"Our great world was once all united known as Teotihuacan. With us it was a humble amount. Blessed with lands so fertile that it can spew forth millions of crops that can survive in any season. Wells far from the great ocean that will never dry. Boats that can carry thousands of fishermen and their catch. With such bounties, our numbers grew ever more so. Thanks to the size of the many intricate buildings, we did not fear the masses without homes. The designs made by the gods that a single house is enough for a whole village. All of the walls within are made entirely of carved statues depicting our vast history. How we came to be in this great place, such blessings. To honor such, we built temples, 3 in total. One that forms a mountain and as high as the clouds. On their holy day, the stairs will form a shadow. A shadow of the great Quetzocoatl, the one who stands above all the others. the god of the wind and air. His paintings carry his stories with ehecailacacozcatl, wind breastplate, on his chest. Housed within our temples are artifacts of grandeur. Some can control the very weather like the gods. Control the seas and even hold knowledge beyond. How did we gain such a place? Why a gift from the Gods when they built this land. Every day we must show our gratitude to them with offerings of grain and alcohol. Life would not be prosperous for long, however. We would be veiled by a dark cloud, one not seen nor expected. People exist outside of our country. 

Yes, beyond the great ocean lies people like us. They showed themselves on our very shores. Speaking in tongues that not even the wisest can understand. They were pale as if they were dead yet roamed like the living. Some had sunken eyes, with some that have red and blue spots all over. Mouth filled with blood, missing teeth. And skin that with the slightest touch, bruised easily. They handed all sorts of trinkets the likes we've never seen and shouted their words again and again. We offered food out of pity. Fearing them to die on our shores we gave them shelter. We tried communication again and again. Showed them our culture, our truth. Slowly they gained color to their skin without red and blue blemishes. In what were close to six months of stay. The pale strangers needed to continue their journey. Despite only a few months, both of us saw each other as families. They left with heavy hearts as did we. With some deciding to stay. We called them soldiers for they were dressed with armor and carried tepoztopilli, spears like us but lacked a metal tip. Years passed after they left. Until more of their ships came by after a decade has passed. Trading more goods and asking for more of our food. We repeated what we once did. And gave them enough for their journey and sent them on their way once more. One day, those who decided to stay one man, would begin to ask questions. He would gesture at anything and if we responded with its name as if it were a question. He quickly wrote it down. He stayed with us instead of with his people. Those who decided to stay would keep to themselves in the houses at the far left of the island. Communally chatting with us on terms. Oh, what is to come? The man was allowed to stay on our side thereafter, for the reason, we were compelled to do so. Soon after, he began to speak like us. Like children, we were entranced by it and taught him more. We believed him to be of no ill intentions. Up to that day, we spoke with these people with simple gestures that a child would understand. So it came as a surprise when their whole village began to speak like us. Why would someone ever want to abuse knowledge? He was picked up by one of the ships later a month, returning home. The usual 5-10 month goes on and the ships that arrived brought those who spoke like us! Though they were off on pronunciation. Like our supposed friend. They stayed, and joined us in celebrations. We aided them with bountiful food at the time as we did not fear our stocks to ever be diminished. Days passed until a unique ship came by. One with a cross laying on one foot came by. Thinking they were more of our friends, we simply waited on the shores. No weapons on hand, no armor, the way one would speak to their ally. Once they descended, we came close to them and spoke like usual and waited for a reply believing they understood. Yet this time around, they didn't respond in our language but in tongues once more. They became angry and rude. Believing we had offended them we gave them our usual trades. Yet they did not give anything back and began to point sticks with a metal pole on top of them. They repeatedly shouted so we moved back. After a while, we simply let them be. After only a few days, our supposed friends began stealing from us. Our crops were from our tilled lands despite the food we gave them. They would steal our offerings for the gods in our sacred lands. They would break the sacred statues and search for their pieces. And showed no respect when we tried to reason with them. A group of us, myself, included went to confront them. We shouted at them for their disrespect and they pointed the same sticks at us, shouting as usual. We argued for what seemed only seconds until a flash appeared with thunder. And by mere moments one of us had begun to fall. His face was blundered and blooded as if he was struck by a hammer. Soon after, more flashes came. We did not bring our weapons then as we thought of them as allies. After the encounter, only a handful of us had escaped. I and those who survived began to tell the whole village of what had happened. Many if not all of them doubted us. We were shunned and shouted at for trying to lie about our friends. We were imprisoned for this notion and told to wait as they came up with a just punishment. To confirm to us and everyone else in the village, a party was sent out, consisting of both men and women to communicate with them and offer many luxurious items as well as important artifacts as a way to make amends. They told me that they'll be back in three days. Despite our warnings, they left. Three weeks had passed and they have not returned. A week more and a single one returned. One of the women at the party. She had been badly bruised, her clothes torn. She told us what had happened. There were twenty of them, our strongest task force of upholding peace, all of them were gone. She said that when they merely approached the village where our friends lay, they were ambushed and shot down. She saw as they burned their offerings for peace. Stole our important artifact. Killed all of the warriors. And those who were left. Unspeakable. If we had not backed down on that day, we would have never had to see this dreaded event. If I and my allies had fought them even without anything on us, we would have changed the very course of history, and their horrendous acts of aggression.

All of us understood what this meant, the village set me and the other survivors free. I was then appointed as the chief as I am the descendant of our greatest warrior. One of the victims was when that party left to make peace with the enemy. We gathered our weapons. Put on our armor. And faced the truth. We attacked the houses that hid them. Within only a few meters, we were swarmed by their thundersticks. By the gods, we believed the invaders to be a separate entity from our friends. Alas, it was all part of their devious plan. Slowly but surely, our men began to fall. Each with the concern to survive. A terrible feeling. They barraged us with weaponry more advanced than ours. We held our ground nonetheless and surround the whole house. This was done to buy time to fornicate defenses effective enough to protect us and the rest of the houses. Effectively walling them tightly into a corner. We began to use our extensive resources and built walls as high as our homes and as intricate as we could in such a small amount of time. Thereafter, the war began. One after the other we won and we lost. With each of that losses, we lost a part of our home. In a way, with each victory, we got back some of those lands. To gain a better advantage, we took their weapons and had some "traded" in. We learned how to utilize them and assigned them to people accordingly. We began to win. We were driving them off. So close were we to finally rid the enemy at the first houses they took. Until a large group inside our walls began to notice something particular. Opportunity. Eliciting other cities of their own. They walled themselves off from us as we were fending off these invaders. Perhaps as a defense from the enemies, we were not sure. At the least, they chose not to ally themselves with these invaders and choose to fend them off as well. But they too had begun to capture so much of our land for themselves. With other groups joining along with them and making their factions. Before there was only one proud faction. But now, there are 6 covering the whole land. 6 factions surrounds us. Cutting down on the land we used to cultivate our crops. Houses that carried all of us along with our weaponry. One of those villages began to seal of the cave. The very cave where our river begins. The river where we use the mud to create our houses, walls, and temples in this great city. The cave that gave fertilized soil for the bountiful of crops. Before, we had so much food it spoiled but now we starve. Our weaponry close to little. And our people, close to ruin. Do you see what has happened to us? Do you feel the urgency? Do you understand how grave the situation has become? The forest where we grew our fruits along with the river that gave us bricks for the walls were captured. Make haste!!" He spoke with great haste with worry all across his face. The man delivering the speach was the tlatoani, the true emperor of this land. 

        pictorial glyph of the tlatoani 

He constantly hides both his hands and arms under his dark green tilmatli, cloak, with patterns of jade squares and diamonds. A red symbol that repeats can be found on the sides. He wears a red crown with golden yellow feathers from a bird not seen anywhere. He also had yellow and green jewels ordained with a red stone as his hair ornament. Out of all his people, he is the only one who is allowed to wear sandals. He does not permit even the nobility nor his generals to wear sandals. Despite other nobilities and high generals permitted to wear by other tlatoani, it is believed by his people that he chooses to see all as equal. Quetzal, one of his tlacochcalcatl, high generals, had a stern face of anger. At least that's what he believed. The people around him believed he was arguing with his food. A single platter of washed-down "food for fasting". With his arms covering it like the walls of the city with a slight opening. He had a thin build. Scrawny arms and feet. Broad shoulders. With a strong jawline though. His eyes were filled with worry. Perhaps from the speech?