The startled and terrified looks on the ladies faces where priceless. Just the sudden aperance of a mouse scared the crap out of them but the moment the young wizard started to talk took them both by surprise. Renard had to struggle to keep himself in check and not roll over in laughter. Luckely for Renard a man aproached the scene and eased the atmosphere. Usually when men get involved in a prank like this they bring brooms with them and start frantically chasing Renard away. But not this time. This strange man decided to act in a way that caught Renard by surprise.
"Well, uhm... pretty much what he says. I am indeed a pleasant surprise and an omen of good fortune.....to those who offer me cheese. I will humbly accept your offer of these fine cheese" Says Renard with a big smile as he accepted the offering of cheese from the strange man in front of him. For a moment the your shape-shifting wizard observed the man in front of him. He was defenetly some sort of wizard and he was proberbly on to him as well. No matter how well Renard looked he could not find any sign of a guild sigil and he had never seen the guy at the Fairy Tail guild hall. The chances that he was send by the Guild Master to retrieve him seemed slim.
With little need to worry about the man in front of him Renard put a piece of the cheese in his mouth and tasted the rich yet slightly sweet and nutty flavour of the Jarlsberg cheese. "Good sir, this cheese is delicious. I can forsee that you will have favorable fortunes in your romantic life. Proberbly even sooner then you'd expect" Said Renard as he gave the man in front of him a big smile before turning towards one of the ladies.
In front of the mouse sat a startled brunette. Renard judged the women somewhere in her mid to late twenties. With her long brown hair, femine curves and well formed chest she was in fact a sight to behold. Defenetly out of Renards league. The young wizard gave her a gentle smile before asking her "In what area of life could you use some good fortunes, miss?
For a moment she looked in total disbelieve to the mouse on the table. It took her some time to regain her compositon before she responded to the question of the omniscient mouse god in front of her. "I.... I really don't know. For myself I don't really need extra good fortune" The lady pauzed and stared down towards the ground. "My husband is a sailor who got himself a big gambling debt in some underground gambling hall. Now he's forced to run all kinds of errands with his boat for them. The people of that gambling hall are really a wrong crowd. I wish he would have never got involved with them"
It was a story that Renard had hear many times. Gangs would setup gambling halls, rig the games and cheat the local townspeople out of their earnings. Forcing them through their debts to do all kinds of stuff for them. The gang running the hall would proberbly use sailors to transport illigal magic items across the seas. It's a really sad tale that destroys families all across Fiore. And every Fairy Tail wizard knows the importance of family.
Renard felt sorry for her. Unlike the Fairy Tail wizard, she proberbly had no one to help her. With gambling debts looming over her, she could never afford to hire some wizard to help her and her husband out. The young Wizard gave her a gentle smile, upheld the piece of cheese he got from the man and spoke "Just of today, I'll consider this offering to be yours." Renard turned towards the man who brought him the cheese and sarcastically commented "Your fortunes have changed, and not for the better." Before jumping of the table and running in his mouse form into the nearest allyway before referting back to his normal yet defenitly small of his age form.
Hargeon is without doubt the most well known port town of Fiore. Famous for its old architecture, seafood restaurants and ofcourse its marina. Not to mention that the old port town has some really nice beaches on walking distance from its beautiful citycenter and its just a short train ride from Magnolia. An excellent place to spend a short holiday when you're on the run from your own Guildmaster, or so it seemed from the travel guide in Renards hand.
Dressed in an hawaii-shirt, swiming shorts and some dark sunglasses the young wizard would certainly not draw any attention in the crowds of tourists. Renard has been confined to the guildhall ever since the incident, forced to do chores. Do the dishes, clean the guildhall, collect the empty mugs... The young man had done it all to many times. Just as he had also tried to sneak out many times. Only those attempts usually ended in being caugth by either Rendon or Janea to get the same crappy speech from about how he should lay low until the storm clears. But not today. Today Renard has given the wizards the slip and boarded the train to Hargeon before they noticed his absence from the guild.
With the sun shining and the nice sea breeze in his hair the young wizard thought about what he was going to do. It would only be a matter of time before the higher ranking wizards would notice his absence and send someone to retrieve him. Chase girls at the beach? Get drunk in a local tavern? Watch the ships in the marina or have a taste of Hargeon's famous seafood? So many options to concider and yet Renard would do something different. The wizard overheard some ladies talking about what cheese is the most delicious on a terrace of some local restaurant. An oppertunity Renard could not resist.
He quickly uses his Take-over magic to transform into a tiny mouse and jumps on the table of the ladies and proclaims. "Greetings humans. I am the omniscient mouse god. I have come from far across Earth Land. You shall fetch me Fiore's finest cheese. You have 5 minutes" Screams of the terrified ladies filled the air.
Name:: Renard Sournois Gender:: Male Age and date of birth:: 17, May 1st
Guild:: Fairy Tail, his guild sigil is on his left collarbone Member since: 4 years
Rank:: A
Personal Information
Personality:: Renard is cheerfull, playfull and generally an upbeat fellow. People often describe him as immature because of his joyous nature and love for pranking people. Renard hardly ever takes live seriously and has a habbit of challenging any form of authority. He is rebellious by nature and often goes against the commands of the guildmaster and the higher ranking wizards of the guilds. Renard simply feels most alive when he's breaking rules and crossing boundries. Needless to say that he often gets himself into trouble.
His rebellious nature doesn’t mean that does not care about the guild, his friends or that he's a bad guy by nature. The fact is that he deeply cares for the ones he loves and will not stand idly when they suffer. Renard shares his food when his friends go hungry, and when he has no more food to share he will steal it with no second thought. Renard is not easily infuriated and by far most insults and name calling justs slides off him as if he's made of teflon. However a few subjects are off-limit and will ruin his mood. Don't bring up parents or the incident of 3 months ago.
Renard gets easily bored and frustrated. He’s addicted to action and when bored, he will often go around pranking people. His favorite victims are ofcourse rival guilds, especially Sabretooth and his own guildmates. Occasionally the townspeople are also at the butt of his jokes.
History:: Renard does not know his parents. As a bady he was left in front of the Cresent moon orphanage. Nobody knew who dropped him but old lady Aryah took care of him none the less. As Renard grew up, he soon realized that there was just so much one old lady could provide for a few dozen orphaned kids. Food, proper clothing and other necessities where always short in the orphanage. So one day Renard decided to do something about it and stole a few bread from the market.
Coming home, the old lady scolded him for stealing the bread and forced him to return it to the baker. That night, once again the children would go to bed hungry. Renard could not let this go and the next day, he went stealing again. Rather then telling it this time he would simply distribute the food back on the street, out of sight of the old lady.
This would continue until the day that Renard picked the lock of some fancy home. Rather than taking food, money or clothing, he Felt himself being drawn towards a bookshelf. Going through it, he picked up a book called “The art of animal soul”. It was a book about take-over magic. As Renard read through the papers, he soon discovered he had a talent for take-over magic and soon started to aquire animal forms. With this new skill, he now could even get what the orphans needed more easily than ever.
By the age of 12, Renard had become a very proficient thief using various animal forms to enter places that could otherwise not be penetrated. He became such a nuicanse to the people of Magnolia that they put up a job at Sabretooth to catch the shape-shifting thief. At first, Renard could throw them off but he was eventually cought and handed over to authorities who convicted him to 1 year in jail.
After 1 year the authorities decided that rather bring him back to the orphanage, it would be better to ask Fairy Tail's guild master Theodora Wainwright if she would take this young delinquent in and teach him the proper way of wizards. A task she accepted. Fairy Tail would soon find out that they had a little trouble maker on their hand. It took some time but eventually Renard fit in and found his new familily and all went reasonably well until the incident.
3 months ago Renard took up a job to protect a town agains an evil wizard who had pledged to destroy the town. A battle was fought and during that battle, Renard attempted to use a full take-over on his Kitsune form. However he lost control to the fox-spirit and destroyed everything in sight. The town was left in ruins and the evil wizard walked away. Since that day, Fairy Tail's guildmaster forbid the young wizard to use that take-over and go on jobs for a while. For now, Renard is confined to the guildhall to do chores in order to repent for his wrongdoings.
Magic
Magic Name:: Take over - Animal soul Description:: Animal soul is a form of take-over magic that allows the user to take on the psysical form and abilities of different kind of animals. This can either be a partial take-over where certain bodyparts are transformed into animal ones or full body take-overs where Renard takes the shape of the animal.
Animal forms:: Take-Over Mouse: Renard becomes a tiny mouse, enabling him to crawl into some of the most confined spaces not accessible to regular humans or even small animals. Take-Over Gorrila: Renard transforms himself into a giant gorrila gaining a huge amount of strength. Take-over Cheetah: Renard takes the shape of a cheetah gaining the animals impressive speed and hunting capabilities. Take-Over Eagle: Renard transforms into an eagle. In eagle form Renard is able to fly and has his eyesight greatly improved. Take-over Beetle: Renards takes the shape of a man-sized Ironclad Beetle gaining the ability to withstand impressive amounts of punishment with its very tough exoskelleton. Take-Over Kitsune: Fox-Spirit is by far the most powerful take-over Renard posesses. Where his other take-overs are all based upon regular animals his fox-spirit take-over is a little different. Renard initially was under the impression that he'd taken over a regular animal but the truth is that he had taken over a fox that trancended the boundries of the material life. In essence Renard took over a magical being that feeds on lifeforce by taking possesion of humans. This has created the weird situation that two creatures compete for dominance over the other. Renard does not have full control over the Kitsune form and thus can only do a partial transformation where he gains fox ears, claws and a tail.
In Kitsune form Renard is granted access to a host of magical powers: * Illusion magic * Fox-fire manipulation * Life-force drain * Fox claws
Other Renard is rather small for his age. He stands at 5.3 feet and is often teased by his lack of height. However he never found his small statue a hindrance and is remarkebly agile.
Renard is skilled in unarmed combat. He's stronger than his height and build would suggest. Utilizing quick punches and kicks, he can often overwhelm a foe with a flurry of blows.
Relatives:: Renard does not have any relatives by blood. At least none that he knows of. However there are a lot of people he cares deeply about such as old Lady Aryah and his fellow guild members.
Name:: Renard Sournois Gender:: Male Age and date of birth:: 17, May 1st
Guild:: Fairy Tail, his guild sigil is on his left collarbone Member since: 4 years
Rank:: A
Personal Information
Personality:: Renard is cheerfull, playfull and generally an upbeat fellow. People often describe him as immature because of his joyous nature and love for pranking people. Renard hardly ever takes live seriously and has a habbit of challenging any form of authority. He is rebellious by nature and often goes against the commands of the guildmaster and the higher ranking wizards of the guilds. Renard simply feels most alive when he's breaking rules and crossing boundries. Needless to say that he often gets himself into trouble.
His rebellious nature doesn’t mean that does not care about the guild, his friends or that he's a bad guy by nature. The fact is that he deeply cares for the ones he loves and will not stand idly when they suffer. Renard shares his food when his friends go hungry, and when he has no more food to share he will steal it with no second thought. Renard is not easily infuriated and by far most insults and name calling justs slides off him as if he's made of teflon. However a few subjects are off-limit and will ruin his mood. Don't bring up parents or the incident of 3 months ago.
Renard gets easily bored and frustrated. He’s addicted to action and when bored, he will often go around pranking people. His favorite victims are ofcourse rival guilds, especially Sabretooth and his own guildmates. Occasionally the townspeople are also at the butt of his jokes.
History:: Renard does not know his parents. As a bady he was left in front of the Cresent moon orphanage. Nobody knew who dropped him but old lady Aryah took care of him none the less. As Renard grew up, he soon realized that there was just so much one old lady could provide for a few dozen orphaned kids. Food, proper clothing and other necessities where always short in the orphanage. So one day Renard decided to do something about it and stole a few bread from the market.
Coming home, the old lady scolded him for stealing the bread and forced him to return it to the baker. That night, once again the children would go to bed hungry. Renard could not let this go and the next day, he went stealing again. Rather then telling it this time he would simply distribute the food back on the street, out of sight of the old lady.
This would continue until the day that Renard picked the lock of some fancy home. Rather than taking food, money or clothing, he Felt himself being drawn towards a bookshelf. Going through it, he picked up a book called “The art of animal soul”. It was a book about take-over magic. As Renard read through the papers, he soon discovered he had a talent for take-over magic and soon started to aquire animal forms. With this new skill, he now could even get what the orphans needed more easily than ever.
By the age of 12, Renard had become a very proficient thief using various animal forms to enter places that could otherwise not be penetrated. He became such a nuicanse to the people of Magnolia that they put up a job at Sabretooth to catch the shape-shifting thief. At first, Renard could throw them off but he was eventually cought and handed over to authorities who convicted him to 1 year in jail.
After 1 year the authorities decided that rather bring him back to the orphanage, it would be better to ask Fairy Tail's guild master Theodora Wainwright if she would take this young delinquent in and teach him the proper way of wizards. A task she accepted. Fairy Tail would soon find out that they had a little trouble maker on their hand. It took some time but eventually Renard fit in and found his new familily and all went reasonably well until the incident.
3 months ago Renard took up a job to protect a town agains an evil wizard who had pledged to destroy the town. A battle was fought and during that battle, Renard attempted to use a full take-over on his Kitsune form. However he lost control to the fox-spirit and destroyed everything in sight. The town was left in ruins and the evil wizard walked away. Since that day, Fairy Tail's guildmaster forbid the young wizard to use that take-over and go on jobs for a while. For now, Renard is confined to the guildhall to do chores in order to repent for his wrongdoings.
Magic
Magic Name:: Take over - Animal soul Description:: Animal soul is a form of take-over magic that allows the user to take on the psysical form and abilities of different kind of animals. This can either be a partial take-over where certain bodyparts are transformed into animal ones or full body take-overs where Renard takes the shape of the animal.
Animal forms:: Take-Over Mouse: Renard becomes a tiny mouse, enabling him to crawl into some of the most confined spaces not accessible to regular humans or even small animals. Take-Over Gorrila: Renard transforms himself into a giant gorrila gaining a huge amount of strength. Take-over Cheetah: Renard takes the shape of a cheetah gaining the animals impressive speed and hunting capabilities. Take-Over Eagle: Renard transforms into an eagle. In eagle form Renard is able to fly and has his eyesight greatly improved. Take-over Beetle: Renards takes the shape of a man-sized Ironclad Beetle gaining the ability to withstand impressive amounts of punishment with its very tough exoskelleton. Take-Over Kitsune: Fox-Spirit is by far the most powerful take-over Renard posesses. Where his other take-overs are all based upon regular animals his fox-spirit take-over is a little different. Renard initially was under the impression that he'd taken over a regular animal but the truth is that he had taken over a fox that trancended the boundries of the material life. In essence Renard took over a magical being that feeds on lifeforce by taking possesion of humans. This has created the weird situation that two creatures compete for dominance over the other. Renard does not have full control over the Kitsune form and thus can only do a partial transformation where he gains fox ears, claws and a tail.
In Kitsune form Renard is granted access to a host of magical powers: * Illusion magic * Fox-fire manipulation * Life-force drain * Fox claws
Other Renard is rather small for his age. He stands at 5.3 feet and is often teased by his lack of height. However he never found his small statue a hindrance and is remarkebly agile.
Renard is skilled in unarmed combat. He's stronger than his height and build would suggest. Utilizing quick punches and kicks, he can often overwhelm a foe with a flurry of blows.
Relatives:: Renard does not have any relatives by blood. At least none that he knows of. However there are a lot of people he cares deeply about such as old Lady Aryah and his fellow guild members.
Name of the nation: Confederation of Maztica Name of the leader: Catequil, chieftain of chieftains Capital: El-Dorra. Located deep within the Maztican jungle. Ethnicity: Tabaxi. Tabaxi are a race of anthropomorphic leopardlike people that life in the endless jungles of Maztica. Tabaxi are mostly referred to by other races as Mazticans and mostly perceived as underdeveloped and savage.
Characters:
Catequil, the Chieftain of Chieftains (male)
3 years ago at the age of 25, Catequil was elected by the council as the new Chieftain of Chieftains, leader of the tribal confederation of Maztica. Catequil is an intelligent young man who looks to the world with an open mind. He was given the task by the elders to lead his people away from isolation and into the world. Catequil has taken up the daunting task of leading his people into the modern era. In order to transform his nation, the Chieftain of Chieftains need to make tough decisions that go directly against the culture and conventions of the Maztican people. Needless to say that
Ayar is what the people of Maztica consider a runaway. A person who left his tribe to travel the world. To run away from your tribe is considered to be a grave sin, those who leave their tribe no longer helps out their family. Catequil defied conventions and took him into his advisory council due to Ayar’s fast knowledge of the world beyond Maztica.
Ayar left his tribe at a young age and traveled throughout the world for 25 years before returning to Maztica. During his travels Ayar build up an extensive network of contacts with merchants, nobles, thiefs and common folk throughout the many nations. Ayar serves as Catequil’s primary advisor on foreign affairs.
Ayar is a surprisingly smooth talker and fluent in many different languages. He’s generally perceived as a likeble and easy going fellow but never really shows his true intent. What’s truly on his mind remains a mystery to most.
Huanca is the grand Shaman of Maztica. Effectively she’s the highest religious authority in all of the tribes and her connection to the ancient spirits is unmatched. Like all Shamans she’s a calm and wise woman who’s duty is to advice the Chieftain of Chieftains on all religious matters. Also she oversees the education of new shamans.
In Maztican culture, the position of Shaman can only be held by women. Due to her deep connection to the ancient spirits, Huanca possesses powerful magical abilities and extensive knowledge of the plant and animal life in the Maztican Jungle. It is very rare to ever see a Maztican male to develop magical abilities. Not because they lack the talent but because their culture forbids them to pursue that path.
Apaec is for many of the Mazticans a national hero. A famous warrior who defeated a strong foreign invasion force. In the past he was considered one of the strongest warriors in all of Maztica but old age is getting the better of him. He has a pragmatic attitude towards his function as warchief and advisor. Shaped through the battles he fought Apaec is well aware of the strengths and deficiencies of his people. He knows how to utilize the limited resources of Maztica and is well aware that his warriors would not last long in any form of open combat.
Maita is the former chieftain of the Inzca Tribe. He is well respected throughout the confederation for his former prowess as a warrior and his fast knowledge of the Maztican traditions. Maita advises Catequil on how to deal with the various issues and problems the tribes of the confederation faces these days.
Atoc is without doubt the most controversial advisor to the Chieftains of Chieftains as he was not born in Maztica. Atoc is the 2nd son of a couple of runaways that eventually settled in Sorenio Republiqa duo Azula Coatl. His father acquired a decent som of wealth as a merchant and Atoc would continue that line of business together with his elder brother Amaru. In the republic they became known as the Quehuar family with a somewhat infamous reputation for shady deals.
Atoc is rather opertunistic. When Ayar asked him to come to Maztica and sit on the advisory council he didn’t have to think long. If the stories about the temple city of El-Dorra are remotely true, there would be plenty of business opportunities to take.
Ozcollo is a young warrior who is the protégé of Apaec and destined to lead the warbands the day that Apaec retires or go on his final journey. He always accompanies his master whenever he goes to train warriors of different tribes, go on border patrols or when ceremonies take place. Being the secondant to the warchief is a position of great prestige but also one that draws a lot of attention. Often other warriors would challenge him so that they can show to the warchief that they would be more suitable for being his secondant.
Culture and society: The Maztican society and culture is what other nations would describe as backward, barbaric and even savage. They care clearly far less developed then other nations. Their society is organized primarily in semi-nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers that sustain themselves in the endless jungles of Maztica. Tribes range in size from a few dozen people up to around a thousand. Throughout Maztica there are hundreds of different rimes. Activities such as agriculture, mining and industry are extremely rare in Maztican lands. Well refined tools and clothing are if found as all from foreign making and common clothing is made of pelts and leather.
Family bonds are extremely important in the Maztican culture as families are the cornerstone of every tribe. Leaving your family is considered the greatest sin a Maztican society. Most Mazticans life in small semi-permanent villages build in the large trees of the jungle. These villages serve as the center of their lives. Wood and leaves are the primary building materials and stone buildings are generally only found in the temple city of El-Dorra.
Mazticans are very dedicated to their family and tribes. They rely on their brothers to have their backs while hunting and on their sisters to keep the kids fed and the houses clean. In Maztica there are clear gender roles where men serve as hunter-warriors and women as healers, craftsmen, artisans and shamans.
Mazticans have always been very weary of strangers from beyond the jungle. Their creation lore states that Mazticans where born to protect the Jungles from the outside world and thus have shunned away from other races for a long time. Often killing explorers who entered the jungles of Maztica. However times are changing and a new Chieftain of Chieftains is opening up the once secluded societies of Maztica to the world.
Religion and magic: For the Mazticans religion and magic are the same thing. The Mazticans worship the spirits and believe that everything has a spirit. In Maztican folklore, the one spirit of Tabaxica used a small portion of her own spirit to form the earth and the sky. The sea and the mountains. The animals and the trees and finaly the races of sentient beings. Seeing how sentient races started to cut down the trees of the great Maztican jungle, Tabaxica bestowed the Leopards of the jungle a conscious spirit. These where the first Tabaxi that where tasked with safeguarding the jungle of destruction. From these Tabaxi eventually the tribes of Maztica would be formed.
Mazticans worship all kinds of spirits, tree spirits, mountain spirits, the spirits of the deceased, spirits of animals and of course the one spirit Tabaxica. Within the Maztican religion shamans form the bridge between the material realm and the spirit realm. Due to their connection with the spirits, shamans can create many magical effects. The shaman rituals and knowledge is passed down from one shaman to another.
Military: The Maztican confederation does not have a formal standing army. However all men capable are trained as Hunter-warriors, fierce combatants that excel in defending their homeland, the Maztican jungle. In times of war, every Maztican tribe must send a warband, a group of warriors under the command of a chosen commander or chieftain. Warbands differ in size based upon the size of the tribe and how much men they can miss for the hunt.
Maztican weapons and armor are considered relatively simple. Warriors are often armed with bows, javalins, shortswords and/or daggers. Metal armor is extremely rare and not wel suited for the wet conditions of the jungle. Most warriors wear some type of leather armor or no armor at all.
The Maztican’s are fierce warriors who are extremely skilled in fighting in the jungle. They are masters of ambushes, hit and run tactics and guerrilla warfare. Combine that with a land that consists almost entirely of jungle, a total lack of infrastructure and you have a very hard place to invade. Invading armies often get lost in the thick jungles, wandering aimlessly around looking for an enemy who won’t give decisive battle while their foraging parties are getting picked off.
Geography and climate: Maztica is known for their tick rainforests and tall mountains. It’s wet and yet hot climate made the lands very fertile resulting in very dense vegetation that covers the mountain peaks and river valleys. For many who are unaccustomed to the dense vegetation and unforgiving climate Maztica is a green hell. However for those who’ve grown used the the climate, conditions have found ways to navigate the dense jungles, survive the humid conditions and often dangerous and unforgiving wildlife.
History: Since the birth of the Tabaxi race in the Maztican jungles they have always been divided between hundreds of tribes, competing over hunting grounds and water supplies. Conflict between the tribes was a regular occurrence. Next to fighting among their own the Mazticans regulary fought against orc tribes entering the jungles from the north. However all these conflics where small in scale and even smaller in Impact. That would remain the same until two hundred years ago when large bodies of Lizardmen started to migrate towards the Jungles of Maztica. Individual tribes where easily overrun by these invasive spiecies and a need for unity arised. It was Chieftain Aiqui-Mata unified the tribes into a confederation and rallied the largest force of Maztican warriors the world had ever seen. During the next 100 years the Mazticans would fight a bitter conflict with the Lizardmen over control over the jungle. The war ended when the last remnants of Lizardmen where expelled from Maztica.
The time after the 100 year conflict was a relatively peaceful one. Occasionally skirmishes would erupt along the Maztican-Azuri border. Not because a desire for conquest but rather out of unclearity of where one nation would end and the next one would begin. The most notable event happened 8 years ago. Hernan da Silva, a wealthy merchant from the Sorenio Republiqa duo Azula organized an expedition of 500 mercenaries to Maztica in an attempt to find the legendary golden city of El-Dorra. A day after entering the Maztican jungle Chieftain Capac Yupanqui A of the Yupanqui tribe met with Hernan da Silva, telling him that he and his men where not welcome in Maztica and that they should head home instantly. Hernan responded with beheading the Chieftain and raiding the villages they encountered.
When word of the incursion reached El-Dorra, the Chieftain of Chieftains sended his own warband under the command of Apaec and over the course of 3 weeks they fought a campaign of attrition in the jungle. Apaec employed small scale hit and run tactics, ambushes against foragin parties and denied to give his opponent any form of decisive battle. The Mazticans maintained their pressure until the expedition collapsed. It is said that only a handful of people from the expedition managed to get out of the jungle alive.
Government: The confederation of Maztica is a tribal confederacy of dozens of tribes. In general each tribe manages their own affairs. There is very little centralization within the confederacy. However for foreign relations and managing problems that goes beyond the one tribe the council of Chieftains elects a Chieftain of Chieftains. A leader to represent their interests beyond the borders of the Maztican Jungle. The Chieftain of Chieftains often selects his council of advisors. Members from the tribes who advise the Chieftain of Chieftains on all kinds of matters ranging from foreign affairs to religious ones.
Twice a year, during the summer and winter solstice all the chieftains of the different tribes meet at El-Dorra in what is called the Convergence of Chieftains. The Convergence lasts for two weeks and consists of discussions, religious festivities and warrior competitions. During the Convergence the Chieftains discuss the issues they face with eachother and the outside world. These happenings are the most important political moments and are also used to pass judgement on those who have committed crimes that exceed the boundaries of one tribe.
Main sources of income: Maztican tribes have a simple lifestyle that relies on what the jungle provides. They mostly hunt and gather for their own needs. Because this simple lifestyle they can survive in the harsh jungle conditions but are at the same time severly limited in what products they can produce themselves. The Mazticans mine some iron in the area around El-Dorra but the tools and weapons they make are often from low quality compared to the outside world.
Gold: Near the Temple city of El-Dorra are large gold reserves. The true extent of these reserves are unknown as the capabilities of the Mazticans to mine it are limited.
The Maztican jungle provides various plants and fruits for which could develop an extensive market marked abroad. Maztican women often search the jungle to gather coffee beans, cacao beans and coca leaves. Occasionally border tribes trade such products for iron, tools or other commodities.
How the rest of the world would perceive them: Maztica is a place that is surrounded by lots of myths and legends. Some legends tell about how the jungle eats everone who enters while others tell about the legendary golden city of El-Dorra. The truth is that Maztica is an inhospitable place that is hard to travel and its people are unwelcoming of strangers. Many nations and individuals have send expeditions to explore the jungles of which many never returned.
Most factual knowledge from the place comes from runaways, Mazticans who’ve abandoned thei tribe and homeland in order to live a different life beyond the jungle. Their tales and legends have shaped the collective knowledge of what lies deep in the jungles. Tales of simple tribal life, lack of technology has shaped the image of a backward and uncivilized culture of savages.
Current goal: Catequil has been chosen as Chieftain of Chieftains to transform the tribal confederacy into a more open and modern nation-state. The former Chieftain recommended Catequil for the position and campaigned heavily for the support among the Council of Chieftains to gather support for a course that would be a departure of what the Mazticans have been doing for centuries. Catequil has been elected with the absolute minimum support and must balance many interests.
The job Catequil stands for is a daunting one. He must open up the nation, create meaningful relations with the rest of the world while radically changing the way their society has worked for centuries. A road that would create many opertunities for both the Confederation of Maztica, her neighbors but is also a dangerous one.