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Re: (TFT) Indians, Magic
From: "Cas and Lisa (also Silvia, Max & Viveka) Liber"
Next thing is shamans I guess.
Cas,
You're a mind reader.
David Michael Grouchy II
Magic in ancient Central America
Calender stone & the wheel
The Native American Indians have been acused of being technologically
primitive. The main traditional evidence of this is the lack of a wheel, or
any of its western developements, like chariots and water wheels. I submit
that the Indians, and in particular the Central American Nahua (also called
the Aztecs) did know of the wheel. In fact the had a profound reverence for
it. Due to their world view, they choose to develope it along spiritual
lines instead of mechanical.
In easter traditions the foot is considered the lowest part of the body
(more on the easter - Native Indian conection later.) In fact it is
considered rude and insulting to point ones foot at some one. This can be
taken to extreams. Before the members of my Air Craft Carrier were allowed
port side in Thiland we were breifed that "to step on a stray coin may get
you killed by a mob. The currency has a picture of the royal family on it."
In the eastern tradition this is a grevious insult.
Of course the Indians knew of the wheel. They just used it as a model
of the heavens, and considered it to be a symbol of the divine. The sacred
circle, the sacred calender round, and they sacred cycle are common themes
in indian culture. They would neve have put the wheel under their feet.
And they would never have dared to ride on one.
Instead they used them as a symbol of their submission to the gods. In
the most famous of the calender stones found the central carving was a face
with a toung. The toung stuck up and was made of flint. The hearts of
sacrafice victims were placed on this flint toung. Thus they made offering
too, and fed, the gods.
In magical terms the calender stones are the same as a ST Battery.
These ST Batteries/calender stones are charged by blood offerings. Instead
of getting 1 point for every 5 points of fatigue, they get the victims
entire ST. As these calenders are charged with countless sacrafices
(according to Bernal Dias, thousands in a day on high holy days.) This
power is used by the preists to summon gods. In TFT terms these gods
corespond to elementals; wind, rain, earth, and fire (volcano). The priests
could summon huge rains for the growing season. Huricanes, Massive pyramids
of earth elementals, and even volcanos.
An interesting side note. When Cortez landed, Moctezuma had two
calenders sent to him. They were about 1 1/2m diameter and one was pure
silver, the other pure gold. The Spaniards immediately melted them down and
recast them into bars. The Nahua were stunned at what to be a gross waist
of power.
Idols
Human hearts may be fed to idols also. These Idols may be charged with
power in the same way as calender stones. At the top of one pyramid Cortez
was shown the god of war. Before the idol was a large stone bowl full of
human hearts.
Many of the outlaying, illiterate, tribes will have their own idols.
They do not contain the same astronomical information as the calender
stones, so they are not as good at predicting celestial events. They are
typicaly carved with accurate autopsy information. Many have correct
showings of the locations of ribs, bones, organs, and other peices of human
anatomy carved on them.
Human Sacrifice
All members of the culture who witnesses a human sacrifice get the
victims DX in experience points. This causes huge gatherings of all classes
of society. Even slaves benifit from this display. The sacrifice of nine
or so victims can give enough experience to every witness for each 32 point
character to get a full character point. Fighting to the death is frowned
apon. It is considered waistfull. Bringing in captives for ritual
sacrifice results in status and favor.
Some notes about human sacrifice. Each victim is considered to go
straight to heaven. This was sometimes a great honor. Occasionally famous
ball players would choose this as their form of retirement. Also, women are
NEVER sacrificed. In Nahua culture the only way a woman could go to heaven
was to die in childbirth. They pretty much had to wait until they were
reincarnated as a man.
Capture of Prisoners
Get prisoners' IQ in experience. To get this experience one must
transport the prisoner back to the sacred center, or pyramid, and turn them
over to the preists. If the prisoner escapes then loose five experience. A
person who loses a prisoner will be ridiculed back in the comunity.
Renewing the Calender stone after 52 years
The Nahua celestial calender ran on a 52 year cycle. When this cycle
runs out, all stored energy in the calender stone is taken by the gods. The
stone must be recharged, and the cycle starts over. This is a particularly
unique ceremony. It is done at night, very rare for the indians, and it
only has one victim. All fires, torches, and lights are extinguished in the
entire capital of Aztlan. The victim is taken up on a sacred hill and the
entire peoples follow with un-lit torches. A small fire is started. The
victim is sacrificed by the holy five preists. One with the obsidian knife,
and one to hold each limb. The still beating heart is then fed to the fire.
Once consecrated a torch is lit off the fire. All other torches are lit
from that one. The fire is passed from torch to torch and then brought down
to the city where all fires and lights are lit.
Thus the comunity is ensured to survive for another 52 years. To enjoy
unity, and to be part of the same sacred light. Also the victim is
remembered with the highest honor; being and individual who brought light
and life to the entire comunity. This makes him almost equal to the gods.
The foaming chocolate drink in a golden cup
Moctezuma was the only one who could drink this sacred beverage. It
was ritually prepaired and served in a solid gold cup. It is sort of like
hot chocolate without the milk. Very, very bitter. Also a very strong
stimulant. It is the Nahua version of the IQ+ potion, though it doesn't use
human brains as a component. Just chocolate. In one of his meetings with
Cortez, Moctezuma is reported to have ordered an excessive number of these
drinks.
The quetzal feather
The long green tail feathers of the quetzal bird are the symbol of
nobility. Nahua poems frequently refer to children in this way "you are my
feather, my beloved." The quetzal feather had huge symbolic importance. To
the illiterate masses the feather would have been equal to a Word Of Command
enchantment. Obey being the most common, but all the other words would have
been present.
An interesting fact that is often glazed over by historians is what
Cortez was wearing the night he left Cuba. A long red robe lined with gold
rings along the hem. The rings could be removed individualy to make
payments or bribes. He also had a quetzal feather head-dress. He knew
exactly the kind of people he was going to subjigate and decied that he had
better look the part of a big cheif. He probably had no idea how much
respect the feathers got him though.
Distinctly Chinese influences
Chinese stone anchors have been found in the waters of the pacific
coast of Central America. They date to the time of China's Shang Dynasty.
Some similarities in writing have also been found. This dates to the time
of the Olmec culture in Central America. Long before the Nahua.
Interestingly, when the Maya and Nahua were asked about the Olmec ruins of
Teotihuacan they said that they didn't know where the builders had come
from.
This view has gotten me a lot of arguments in the past, so here is a
link to some tenative supporting evidence.
http://abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000science/newworld991019.html
Magical devices to help in gaining experience
Once a character advances far enough it gets very expensive to gain
another attribute point. To aid in this difficulty, so-called cursed items
are used. An Item that reduces a persons IQ-5 will drop them to a lower
experince point category. A device that reduces all three attributes by 5
will drop them three experience categories. Because of this nothing is
considered cursed in Nahua culture. It is just said that "one must be very
powerfull to use it."
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