Backstory

You will be traveling from far south of Maztica, from the secluded great river near the temple city of Pichu Uma where the sun god lives and rules over all of Lopango. As a noble woman of the Amazon tribes, you bear terrible responsibilities to maintaining the light and keeping it from harm, especially in these says where terrible men in great floating houses can escape their lands to the East and break through the magical barrier known as the Trackless Sea. Blackness and night and all manner of corruption of the light is coming. Even the gods of Maztica are restless and prepare for the defense. Your god has been communing with the peaceful Qotal the Feathered Dragon to the north and they see war and sacrifice as both the True Lands and the Invaders take more and more extreme magical measures to subdue the other. The threat is that other factions will take advantage of this divine battle and seek their own agendas as had happens when the demoness Obsidian Butterfly rules the solar eclipse and neither Sun god can protect Maztica. You know these cosmological battles since angelic blood flows in your veins, though it is much diluted. The desire for justice for the living and the natural world aches and envies that divine power as any one in your position of responsibility would.

I come from a large family with many siblings vying for attention from parents who are loving but overburdened. My father comes from a long line of nobles whose wealth was greatly diminished in his lifetime, due to his refusal to have dealings with the most powerful but unethical merchants in our community. I grew up under the burden of regret and bitterness of my father. He sees me as the child with the most potential to excel in business dealings and regain the family's fortune, but my personal calling pulls me toward the light and it's protection. So, I have sought out training and meditation for the upcoming battle, rather than focus on my family's standing and fortune. Yet, I still feel strongly the sense of justice and duty toward my family and hope that my upcoming place in the battles for the light will secure my place in legend and in the hearts of my parents and my many siblings. My signet ring is focused around the majestic eagle, who soars above the land, keeping a watchful eye, and who is ready to do battle for those in need.

The eagle is the spirit animal for the Eagle Knights who protect Qotal whom I mentioned is the Maztica god for peace and learning and civilization. This, despite the fact that Qotal himself is the Feathered Dragon or in the Payit tongue, the quetzalcoatl. You will be well received in all civilized lands with that signet. I wonder if the ring marks a long standing interest in the Maztica pantheon beyond your Lord of Light in Lopango. Maybe there are black sheep amongst your family that have adventures north, practice the pluma magic and knows the ways of Maztica more than they let on. Know anyone?

Hmm. My father's eldest brother was always suspected to be closely connected with those involved in pluma magic. What was his name again? 🤔

Ah yes. The one who had a foreign sounding name, Aapo. It means father of many nations. Maybe the gods at his naming saw that he would span national boundaries? Or perhaps unite them? Until your father assumed control and withdrew into conservative practices and retreated from such international issues.

He lives in the cliffs of Melchora, where he can keep an eye on the villagers living in the valley, should they need his help. But his home is up a long and treacherous path that dissuades all but the most determined visitors.

That is far indeed. When not in the temple at Pichu Uma, you will be with family in the Capitol. You will need to leave your home on Mt Cuzcalac where the nobles of the Natican have ruled a great city and journey not on a pilgrimage toward holy Pichu Umo where your sun god Intiri resides, but rather to the dark north and the last peak of the Melchora known as Apu Rock

Your uncle Aapo seems to like his residence to have a view of the dark lands to the north, the True World of Maztica. Beware this path as it leads through high jungles filled with Cayma and Drow and Jungle Orcs. Make it there and your uncle will greet you warmly. How do you proceed? Have you prepared your spells from your Druidic spell list? You may desperately need them.

You prepare your spells and feed the wild animals that come up the family manor house, nestled in the breadfruit trees of the royal quarter of the city. Gardens surround you and give you peace, but you feel like a geas has been placed upon you. You had merely thought of your uncle and he called back with a summons. You must go learn more about your signet ring. Maybe it has something to do with your destiny. Maybe it has something to do with the pending dooms that the prognosticators divine. Whatever the reason, you plan to leave this very morning. No time to say goodbye to your dozens of cousins. You pack a days rations and hope to find food along the way. You choose to not prepare the goodberry spell. You may need the other spells more on the three day trek through the jungles. If only you had studied more to take the great walk, to jump from the spirit of one Kapok tree to another, sharing in their wisdom. Experiences like that encourage you to advance in the druidic skills of the shaman rather than the priestly skills of the Light One. Still, you learned the priest guard's weapon of the bolt chucker, what some called the crossbow. You strap that to your back and check the sharpness of your plumastone dagger.

You find yourself walking past the garden walls before you realize you were even leaving. Not a time to turn back. You walk onto the alpaca paths and out of civilization out in the tree line of the great continental divide leading to Rock Aru.

A day passes without seeing much more than a snake or a tukan. Camping in a tree, and you are off on your second day. Then you faced it. A spirit animal of the hishna, that foreign magic of Maztica, a jaguar. He faces you like he has been watching you for hours from his tree limb.

I stop and assess the jaguar. I decide to use Animal Friendship to attempt to calm and befriend it. I also use gust to send a gentle breeze of welcome toward the jaguar.

Looking into the Jaguar’s eyes, you get a brief glimpse of the world around you. There is a great movement of strangers toward a single focus point in the stars. You cannot see beyond that nexus. The Jaguar breaks eye contact with you and his growl turns into a purr. He leaps down to you and nuzzles his head in your hands until they are on his neck. You scratch and he leans and knocks your legs out from under you. Hanging in desperately to his neck he runs his sleek body under you and races with you through the jungle. Time you think is running out. You name the cat Time and smirk.

Up the final hill to your uncles house appears before. It is not possible. You have just left your home and the hills are three days apart. No accounting for Time who pads quickly up the path to the outcrop of rooms grown from the hill itself. Beams for the roof are living trees. Silver wire suspend illuminated pinya cones Your uncles tastes in architecture is quite foreign but beautiful.

Yes, I apologize for just getting back to you. I thought it would notify me when you replied, but I didn't see one, if it did. I should be able to post at least once a day, possibly more. But it depends on the day.

"Yes, the old stories are fascinating, Uncle! I have indeed felt the darkness spreading, and I feel called to pursue more of the Druidic arts upon my journey. In your adventures, did you come across any particular animals or monstrosities in this area that I should be wary of? Any battle stories to share with your niece?"

"Good morning child. I am glad you can sleep in this house haunted with memories. The birthmark will certainly make you stand out in Maztica. It may be true that it marks powers of divination. Perhaps you can try it. Use the signet ring as your focus. Here. Sit. I will make breakfast. The solarium is bright and welcoming and will protect you from the spirits that you may draw out of the Great Pyramid.

I have been following the ship and it has broken free of its original path. It lies in great peril. A newly incarnated god now travels on it, to fend off a threat of darkness, a vampire and her thralls. It is a ship divided. The vampire controls half. The god the other. The vampire has taken the ship into caves of wonder where live a green folk, elves who have transformed themselves into bats to worship the ancient bat gods. The green folk ward a talisman of ancient knowledge. The vampire seeks to use it for evil and extorts the god to take half the crew to retrieve it. The god has been told by Uhti to safe guard it instead. In the village, there could be much blood shed. The ship could be lost, or worse, the vampire may acquire the talisman. The god has a paladin and a wind mage to help in addition to the other half of crew, though more importantly, the god is being awakened into other powers. I cannot see past the god's decisions. Maybe you can." He leave you for the kitchen.