Oltec

Oltec
History
Founded on	Ixalan
Membership
Notable members	Akal Pakal, Anim Pakal

The Oltec are an ancient civilization living in the The Core of Ixalan. They are the living ancestors of the Sun Empire.

Description

The Oltec are the dominant civilization of Ixalan's Core. They see themselves as the first peoples on — or, in — Ixalan, a world made by Chimil and shepherded by her children, the Deep Gods. The Oltec are the defenders of the Core, guarding all entrances to this wonderous space and keeping vigilant against threats that might encroach on this vaunted idyll. They live in harmony with each other and the natural world and view themselves as caretakers of it — stewards rather than rulers.

The Oltec have not had significant contact with the Sun Empire since the Sun Empire's ancestors first emerged on Ixalan's surface. They claim a proud history as the first humans on Ixalan. Though they are now the Oltec, they — and all humans — were once the Komon Winaq, the Fifth People. In their conception of the world, if humanity persists, so does the Fifth Age, and so, too, are they proven to be the chosen favorites of Chimil.

Culture

In contrast to the Sun Empire, the Oltec had no Imperial ambition and were not an empire but a constellation of communes: egalitarian city-states linked together by trade, shared history, and purpose. The Oltec are guardians, stewards, sentinels, and protectors of the Core, and nothing more. Though they are of course curious as to the nature of the caverns and the politics of the surface world, they have no state-level designs on conquest—that is not to say, though, that there are no factions within the Oltec who could not be swayed toward conquest, should the right reason come along.

The Oltec are the only civilization of Ixalan's core to have mastered the power of cosmium. They don't wear armor, because Cosmium protects them. Perhaps due to their regular interaction with Cosmium, their bones appear to be infused with it, glowing with pinkish purple magic.

Oltec warriors known as the Thousand Moons ride great bats. As a coming-of-age ceremony, Oltec ride a bat to Chimil and attempt to claim a piece of cosmium to be forged into a weapon, armor, or other device. Oltec citizens wear ponchos and Khipus. Many make use of gnomes, and benevolent spirits known as Echoes wander the Core. The Oltec don't have prisons and instead possess only temporary detention rooms, as people aren't jailed as punishment — the very concept of punitive imprisonment being appalling the Oltec sensibilities.

Didacts are a class of Oltec who explore, learn, and teach. A group of Oltec known as gardeners were specially trained to fight off mycoids. They have face tattoos, carry staves tipped with cosmium crystals, and travel with llamas. Stewards are Oltec civic leaders, representatives elected by popular vote of the commune they wish to represent

Religion

The Deep Gods are the present, living deities of the Oltec. Four of them are closely aligned with the Oltec, while the fifth, Aclazotz, is the progenitor of the vampires and is regarded as an evil deity. Except for Aclazotz, all the Deep Gods have grand temples throughout the Core, with the grandest of them located in Oteclan, the Oltec capital city.

The Deep Gods of the Core are present throughout Komon Winaq's history. Though currently distant, they have manifested before the Oltec in living memory. Faith in the gods is strong, and they are a part of daily life through ritual days, the presence of shrines and temples, stories, and the mundane utterances of people going about their business. The Deep Gods are sacred figures but are not above addressing human emotions — indeed, it is their evident humanity that connects them to the people, for their physical forms and powers are often far from the human norm.

The Oltec recognize the Sun Empire's Threefold Sun but do not praise it or its aspects as their chief deity; indeed, the Threefold Sun is but one expression of the Oltec primary god, Chimil, who is herself but one of a pantheon of gods. This pantheon is composed of many dozens of gods, though these deities generally are understood to be the momentary divine children of one of five progenitors or prime aspects.

The Oltec refer to Aclazotz as the Great Betrayer. However, a separatist faction known as "cosmium eaters" worshiped Aclazotz in secret during his imprisonment after the Night War, keeping the location of his prison a secret. These cosmium eaters carry or wear dim red crystals as a sign of their allegiance. They were turned into vampire demons by their god after freeing him from his imprisonment.

History

Before time was time, the first humans on the plane of Ixalan awoke inside the Core of Paradise. The veil of nothingness slipped away. Reality dawned. Humans stood to their full height under Chimil and understood her to be their creator. They understood through her that the world was new, humanity was new, and yet they would be called the Komon Winaq, or the Fifth People. As they were the Fifth People, there had been a fourth, and there would be a sixth, and so on.

The Whispering War

Dark creatures from the afterlife slipped into the world through a door left open by Tan Jolom, the worldwalker, none more terrible than the final child of the Fourth People: Aclazotz. Aclazotz knew the power that fear could grant him, so he hardened that gossamer veil between life and death to impregnable stone. Death became something to grieve and fear, and Aclazotz fed off that fear. In secret, he hunted the most terrified, bereaved, and desperate, and upon trapping them, he whispered his dark promise: give yourselves to me, and you will live forever.

Grief, fear, death, and whispers of an escape from that final end spread through the Core. Pilgrims and evangelists raged through cities, forming cults intended to lure Aclazotz out into the light. Their desperate rituals horrified much of the Komon Winaq. When elders and leaders first attempted to stop them, Aclazotz's cults fought back, and the fields and cities of the Komon Winaq raged with violence.

The Whispering War ended after the other Deep Gods arrived and intervened. Ojer Axonil and Aclazotz fought in a climactic final battle, surrounded by regiments of their most faithful, ardent warriors. Ojer Axonil and his thousand champions faced down Aclazotz and his blood-drinkers in their deepest lairs, where the god of fury and strength tore out one of Aclazotz's eyes and subdued him. After Ojer Axonil dragged Aclazotz back beyond the veil he had hardened, a great age of rebuilding began.

Age of the Sun

The Oltec have worshiped Chimil, the sun at the center of Ixalan's Core, for millennia. According to their didacts, the Core was invaded by giant Coin Empire "colonizers" who came on dark vessels in the sky. They blotted out the light of Chimil and then caged her within a metal prison.

Night War

320 years of darkness followed, and the colonizers ruled the Core. In the final days of the war, when Komon warriors landed on the dark shards caging Chimil, the star was able to help them. Chimil, too, had been fighting back, lashing the inside of her cage with terrible, mighty energies. The shards were weak, attempting to heal through unknown magics but failing. The disruption presented by the resistance attacks across the Core hampered Fomori infrastructure; liberatory attacks on key shards by brave Komon warriors proved to be too much for the Fomori prison. Chimil shattered one shard, then another, and then a cascade began. A dark rain of steaming, fractured shards. Cosmium lashed out from Chimil, blasting away the Fomori while innervating the Komon — those present that day became semi-divine figures in their own right — the first angels of Ixalan. The Deep Gods followed, finally able to hear their mother's cry and their people's pleas.

The war ended with the Fomori expelled from the Core, leaving behind the shattered ruins of their shard-ships in orbit around Chimil, as well as various smaller installations and half-complete projects across the Core. Over the ages, the Komon have worked to repair much of these wounds, but even in the present, some ruins remain.

The Quiet Age

Some of the Komon Winaq travelled to the plane's surface, later becoming the Sun Empire. The ones that stayed behind started to call themselves the Oltec. The Komon would be successful in establishing a new home outside the Core. They maintained regular trade with the Oltec until the spread of the mycoids forced the two to seal off contact.

During the Quiet Age, there was very little conflict between groups and no war. The Oltec undertook great works of public engineering and habitat restoration, finally repairing much of the damage done by the Night War. New cities were built, and the Oltec slowly expanded into unexplored parts of the Core. The Oltec deepened their relationships with their gods, refined their magics, and grew to understand both practical and fantastic applications of cosmium.

Trivia

• Ancient Mesoamerican cultures inspired the design of the Oltec. As a progenitor civilization, they are likely based on the Olmecs. They use khipu and their god Ojer Taq appears to be inspired by Viracocha, so there are Incan influences to their design.

In-game references

Associated cards:

• Oltec Archaeologists
• Oltec Cloud Guard
• Oteclan Landmark
• Oteclan Levitator

Depicted in:

• Descendants' Path

Referred to:

• Apex Observatory
• Arcane Signet (Treasure Trove, #104)
• Basking Capybara
• Braided Quipu
• Cartographer's Companion
• Clifftop Retreat
• The Core
• Cosmium Kiln
• Cosmium Blast
• Council of Echoes
• Dauntless Dismantler
• Deconstruction Hammer
• Didact Echo
• Dinosaur Egg
• Envoy of Okinec Ahau
• Expedition Map (Treasure Trove, #112)
• Farseek
• Hotfoot Gnome
• Kaslem's Strider
• Pugnacious Hammerskull
• Roar of the Fifth People
• Staggering Size
• Sunshot Militia
• Temple of Civilization
• Temple of Cultivation
• Temple of Cyclical Time
• Temple of the Dead
• Temple of Power
• Worn Powerstone (Treasure Trove, #120)