Sun Empire: Difference between revisions

From MTG Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
VisualWikitext
>Hunterofsalvation
>Hunterofsalvation
No edit summary
Line 22: Line 22:
==Description==
==Description==
The Sun Empire spans the breadth of the continent of Ixalan.<ref name="Podcast 41"/> Composed of four major city-states, Pachatupa, Atzocan, Otepec, and '''Orazca''' (the current capital), and hundreds of minor villages, fortresses, and towns between, the Sun Empire is rich in material wealth, natural beauty, airable land, biodiversity, and people.<ref name="Guide 3"/> The Sun Empire has a central power structure, but while the other large cities are nominally aligned to the capital, that hold is tenuous at best. The [[human]] warriors of the empire cooperate with [[dinosaur]]s, and they are protected by the magic of their sun priests. Their cities were built to accommodate dinosaur riders, with high arches to allow their knights to pass through unobstructed.
The Sun Empire spans the breadth of the continent of Ixalan.<ref name="Podcast 41"/> Composed of four major city-states, Pachatupa, Atzocan, Otepec, and '''Orazca''' (the current capital), and hundreds of minor villages, fortresses, and towns between, the Sun Empire is rich in material wealth, natural beauty, airable land, biodiversity, and people.<ref name="Guide 3"/> The Sun Empire has a central power structure, but while the other large cities are nominally aligned to the capital, that hold is tenuous at best. The [[human]] warriors of the empire cooperate with [[dinosaur]]s, and they are protected by the magic of their sun priests. Their cities were built to accommodate dinosaur riders, with high arches to allow their knights to pass through unobstructed.
[[file:Ixalan map.png|thumb|right|Map of Ixalan with the Sun Empire]]


===Notable locations===
===Notable locations===
[[file:Ixalan map.png|thumb|right|300px|Map of Ixalan with the Sun Empire in the east]]
*The '''Sun Coast''', the eastern coast.
*The '''Sun Coast''', the eastern coast.


Revision as of 13:31, 11 November 2023

Sun Empire
[[File:{{#setmainimage:Trifold Sun.png}}|150px]]
History
Founded on Ixalan
Active For many human generations
Status In power on Ixalan
Organization
Purpose Rule the continent of Ixalan
Type Empire
Values Tradition, Dinosaur mastery, sun worship, warfare
Membership
Founded by Empress Chacanto Intli
Leader Emperor Apatzec Intli IV (minor, his regent is his uncle, Atlacan Huicintli)
Notable members Atla Palani, Huatli, Saheeli Rai, Caztaca Huicintli
Game Information
Colors {R}{G}{W}
Mechanics Enrage, Dinosaurs matter
Races Human
Other types Dinosaur
Sources
Ixalan, Rivals of Ixalan

The Sun Empire is a prosperous empire on the continent of Ixalan, which is located on the plane of the same name.[1]

Description

The Sun Empire spans the breadth of the continent of Ixalan.[2] Composed of four major city-states, Pachatupa, Atzocan, Otepec, and Orazca (the current capital), and hundreds of minor villages, fortresses, and towns between, the Sun Empire is rich in material wealth, natural beauty, airable land, biodiversity, and people.[3] The Sun Empire has a central power structure, but while the other large cities are nominally aligned to the capital, that hold is tenuous at best. The human warriors of the empire cooperate with dinosaurs, and they are protected by the magic of their sun priests. Their cities were built to accommodate dinosaur riders, with high arches to allow their knights to pass through unobstructed.

Notable locations

Map of Ixalan with the Sun Empire in the east
  • The Sun Coast, the eastern coast.

Culture

The people of the Sun Empire take great pride in their traditions and heritage. The title of warrior-poet is bestowed on only one person in a generation. They kept the stories and weaved events into words. To earn that title, one must demonstrate excellence in service to the kingdom.[4]

The Canchatan, the temple soldiers of Pachatupa, are specially chosen and blessed by the priests of two of the Temple of the Birthing Sun and the Temple of the Consuming Sun.[5] Though they are technically two military forces, they have a single commander. meanwhile, the Emperor's Guard is an elite military force housed in the palace of Tocatli, which answers directly to the emperor. Its soldiers are divided into seven squads, each with its commander (called an intical).[5] Sun empire warriors carry māccuahuimeh.[6]

Dinosaurs are important to the Sun Empire's sense of national identity. The empire's people use dinosaur feathers as decorations and as inspiration for design motifs in everything from jewelry to architecture. They believe that the Immortal Sun first gave their priests the ability to call and command the dinosaurs, so maintaining this command is a way of clinging to their ancient heritage. These creatures are not tame. Whenever a dinosaur moves through a Sun Empire city, it is under someone's direct control—and there's always the risk of it breaking free. This is part of the Sun Empire's worldview: nature (embodied in the dinosaurs) is a tool to be wielded, bent to human will, but it is a constant test of will and strength. Nature can't be tamed, but when humans live alongside nature they are made stronger.

The Sun Empire worships the sun, which they believe to display three aspects. Temples to various aspects of the sun exist, but even places where the sunlight touches the ground are considered sacred.

Their native language and script is called Itzocan,[7] which is divided into "High" and "Low" dialects.[8]

History

The people of the Sun Empire are said to have been formed from the clay by the loving hands of Kinjalli, the Wakening Sun.[9] In reality, they descend from the Komon Winaq, who themselves descend from the ancient Oltec civilization in Ixalan's Core.[10]

The Sun Empire was first founded from Orazca by Chacanto Intli, who united the various city-states into a central empire.[5] Following a devastating war with the River Heralds under Apatzec Intli I, who used the power of the Immortal Sun without restraint, their civilization was reduced to a few coastal cities, with Orazca being lost to them. Whereas the River Heralds - who lived there long before the humans - had once controlled the continent, under the leadership of its new emperor Apatzec Intli III, the Sun Empire had cemented its grip on the land.[4] The empire still confronted the Heralds on its borders. Apatzec III was responsible for the new assertion of control and a mood of expansionism that had gripped the empire following his mother's death several years before.

The Sun Empire was besieged by pirate raids by the Brazen Coalition and the advance of the Legion of Dusk. Caught between the invaders from the sea and the wall of the jungle behind them, the Sun Empire rose with the ferocity of a dinosaur and the righteous light of the radiant sun to fight off its enemies.

With Orazca retaken, the Sun Empire pushed the Legion of Dusk back to the sea, capturing and reverse engineering their fleet in preparation for an invasion of Torrezon.[11] Forests were felled to raise a new fleet, known as the Dawn Fleet. Hundreds of ships were built, and nearly ten thousand soldiers and sailors crewed them. The ships were launched to Torrezon, and their last known location was the midway point between the two empires. However, when New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse started, the Sun Empire was forced to join forces with the Legion of Dusk to defend the plane.[6] Huatli led a force of roughly one hundred auxiliaries, including her lancers, survivors from various regiments, and newly released prisoners, along with fifty dinosaurs, to call the elder dinosaurs to Orazca and break the siege of Pachatupa.

During New Phyrexia's Invasion of the Multiverse, the Phyrexian vanguard landed near Atzocan, surprising the Sun Empire and overwhelming the unprepared defenders. Within days, tens of thousands of Phyrexianized Sun Empire citizens and many regiments' worth of quetzacama — dinosaurs — were ready to march on the rest of the empire. The campaign that followed pitted beleaguered Sun Empire regiments against a dauntless tide of their Phyrexianized comrades, with Imperial forces forced into a constant, demoralizing, and costly series of covering and screening maneuvers: a route by any other definition, but one that bought time for the Imperial capital, Pachatupa, to prepare its defenses.[3]

The Imperial decision to defend only the capital exposed the rest of the empire to the Phyrexians: the machine's forces swept over the cities outside of the Imperial core, encircling the capital and committing it to siege.[3] A desperate mission to Orazca by Huatli and her commandos, coupled with the white-knuckled defense of Pachatupa by Imperial soldiers and citizens, saved the Sun Empire and Ixalan from falling to the Phyrexians.[6]

As Emperor Apatzec Intli III was killed during the invasion, he was succeded by his young son Apatzec Intli IV.[8] Orazca was revived and declared the new capital and a home for refugees across the continent, as tens of thousands of people came there after the invasion's end that had left their home states ravaged and inhospitable.[2] The empire's citizens began rebuilding, clearing Phyrexian ruins and inert oil from their cities and waterways.

Having moved to Ixalan after her desparking, Saheeli Rai became a citizen of the Sun Empire and entered the politics of the court after impressing the boy-emperor with her automatons in the image of dinosaurs which the emperor coined "mechanoquetzacama."[8] Atlacan Huicintli, the emperor's steward, planned to resume the war against Torrezon, commissioning a new Dawn Fleet of ten thousand ships and dozens of mechanoquetzacama.[8] In response, Huatli planned to depose Atlacan, defang the emperor's guard, and move Caztaca Huicintli into power at the emperor's side.

Trivia

The Sun Empire is loosely based on the Aztec culture, with slight influences from the Inca.[1]

In-game references

Associated cards:
Referred to:

References

  1. ↑ a b Blake Rasmussen and Alison Luhrs (August 30, 2017). "Magic Story Podcast: Ixalan". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  2. ↑ a b Harless Snyder, Natalie Kreider, Miguel Lopez, and Ovidio Cartagena (October 23, 2023). "The Lost Caverns of Ixalan #41: The Origins of Ixalan, Part 1". The Magic Story Podcast.
  3. ↑ a b c Miguel Lopez (November 10, 2023). "Planeswalker's Guide to the Lost Caverns of Ixalan". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  4. ↑ a b R&D Narrative Team (September 13, 2017). "A Question of Confidence". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  5. ↑ a b c R&D Narrative Team (November 1, 2017). "Planeswalker's Guide to Ixalan, Part 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  6. ↑ a b c Miguel Lopez (Mar 21, 2023). "March of the Machine - Ixalan: Three Hundred Steps Under the Sun". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  7. ↑ Valerie Valdes (October 20, 2023). "The Lost Caverns of Ixalan - Episode 1". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  8. ↑ a b c d Valerie Valdes (October 20, 2023). "The Lost Caverns of Ixalan - Pawns". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
  9. ↑ Explore the Planes: Ixalan
  10. ↑ The Preview Panel at MagicCon: Las Vegas 2023 (Video). Magic: The Gathering. YouTube (September 22, 2023).
  11. ↑ R&D Narrative Team (February 14, 2018). "Wool over the Eyes". magicthegathering.com. Wizards of the Coast.
Ixalan block
Annex set
Ixalan 2024
Ixalan storyline
Publications
Locations
Characters
Affiliations
Artifacts
Retrieved from "https://mtg.wiki/index.php?title=Sun_Empire&oldid=299878"