Tales from Nan'dan - Elox

So, here it goes, the first attempt at a glimpse into that Fantasy / Mesoamerican / European setting I talked about, bear in mind that this will be a work in progress, some (or most) of the names of things are meant as placeholders, either in wait of approval or until I can come up with a better alternative. This vignettes are not meant to be parts of an overarching story line, they're just what they are, little windows into what I think a place like this could/should look like.

I chose "Nan'dan" as the name for the continent where my scenes will take place, the word is meant to translate into "Paradise" and comes from the old and forgotten language of it's first inhabitants, the Caanderi ("from the moon's navel" or "the last ones", scholars are still debating).

I'll also like to state that all of the X's should be read using a "sh" sound to them.

Elox

The sound and smells of the market woke her up, any other day under any other circumstances Elox would have slept for at least another couple of hours, excitement had kept her up late at night, she'd been traveling for nearly a week on her first trip to the big city, almost two days ago her provisions had run dry and though she left her home with enough xells to buy supplies and rent a room, the seashell shaped iron coins are hard to spend when there are no civilized buildings between your home and the city. Thankfully the rain forest had provided her with enough fruits an herbs to sustain her and complete her journey.

After getting dressed, Elox went to the window and contemplated the view. The immensity of the city was almost overwhelming, and the colors, shapes and aromas threatened to overcome her senses. The city landscape was dominated by the inverted V shaped arches preferred by the more classical architects, but the crown jewel definitively was the keep. 

Pakal (as the original builders named it) is composed of several structures, the biggest one rises 70 feet high shaped in the classical form of an eight-stepped pyramid and is crowned by an observation deck forming the 9th level. Inside, the chambers of the ruling house are lavishly decorated with precious stones and fabrics from all over the known world, on the outside, white stuco covers the walls and is decorated in radiant colors, depicting scenes of gods and mortal heroes, an ever changing mural updated year after year. Surrounding the whole keep, thick massive walls sprout from the ground protecting the stables, servant quarters and the great market itself.

As for the rest of the land, it is said that when High Lord Shenval Aztatlan first wrestled away his lands from the hands of the easterners, almost five hundred years ago, the land was a dessert, arid, devoid of life, a godless desolation as far as the eye could see. The arrival of the Aztatlans heralded a new beginning, with them came their gods, chief among them Chaac, whose domain extends over rain and lightning, prosperity followed the conquest, of that desolate terrain nothing remains.

The tropical rain forest that erupted with the help of the gods, has provided the city with all sorts of food and trade goods, cunning hunters can find white-tailed deer and rabbits for many leagues, the abundance of water also brought out he good qualities of the land, farms growing everything from white corn and wheat to sugarcane and all sorts of agave can be seen far and wide.  The exotic spices brought by the early commerce and the superior quality of the land defined the Aztatlan's city as one of the biggest trading centers in Nan'dan.

This was Elox's first solo trip, being of age to trade by herself she had taken a cart with part of the produce from her family's farm, agave skins used in the preparation of mixis -spiced deer (or rabbit) meat- and mezcal, the potent spirit preferred by the lower classes. After breaking her fast on a cup of hot chocolate milk and a couple of her favorite carapace shaped sweet breads, Elox took her cart towards the inner walls of the castle keep, inside the famed Pakal market awaited.

The entrance was guarded by 2 men on each side, and 4 more atop the wall, the guards wore boiled leather armor dyed a pale yellow and decorated with asymmetrical black spots, she was staring at real live Jaguar Guards, no weapons could be seen on them, but Elox knew better than that, the Jags, as they called themselves, had unnatural strength and resilience and could shapechange their hands, feet, eyes and mouths to approximate those of a jaguar, with only those tools they were deadly fast and proficient, old wives tales claim that 10 of them can do as much damage as a hundred regular troops.

The trading went a little less favorable than Elox expected, the agave skins only fetched half a dozen ambers, but those little spheres with a quetzal feather embedded in them grew to a couple of obsidians by the time the mezcal was finally sold. The ambers she used to buy white corn treated with lime water, several kinds of chiles, assorted spices and hardened molasses at a bargain, she even had some xells left from those purchases to treat herself to a whole rabitt and wash it down with pineapple cured octil, a milky fermented beverage made from the agave that she discovered while walking around the market.

One of the obsidians she used to buy dress clothes for her parents and 4 brothers, a steep price indeed, but she had never seen fabrics so soft and adorned with such elegance, Elox decided that the cacao shaped obsidian coin was well spent, even more so with the festivities commemorating the wedding of Lord Ikar Aztatlan to Lady Itzel, the eldest daughter of the builder's Guild Master.

The next morning Elox rode back to her farm, proud of herself and with the knowledge that her family had just opened a new trade destination for their goods, father would be very pleased.

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There it is, see you next time and hope you like it... Oh! and comment and share please!