quote:

---

HISTORY

Throughout most of its history, the True World has developed mostly independently of Faerun. In the previous century and a half, knowledge of the Maztican continent – due mostly to the actions of Cordell and the Amnian invasion, has become at least somewhat understood.

Anchorome still remains one of the world’s great mysteries. On most Faerunian maps, and even in the lore of Mazticans, it is “terra incognita;” a mysterious and unknown land of strange peoples and cultures.

When Maztica returned from its exile on Abeir, the old physical connections to Anchorome also returned. The brave traveling merchants of Maztica known as the pochteca immediately set out for these new lands and what they found were not the “barbarians” many once thought occupied the region. There are in fact numerous rich cultures, each with their own unique histories. The inhabitants are not known to write about their past but rather pass their knowledge from generation to generation with detailed storytelling.

Of all the pochteca, Achcauhtli may be the most well-traveled in this northern region, and his reports are certainly the most famous. A great grand-nephew of the Grand Pochteca of Kolan, Achcauhtli was once considered to be next in line for the position due to both his bloodline and remarkable talent. Achcauhtli however cares little for power or prestige and has spent the last decade chronicling as much of the history of north as he could. He has listened to all the legends, and visited even the exotic lands of the Mantis-Men in his travels. Achcauhtli’s talents in the magic of divination go far beyond the average pochteca and he has even spoken directly with the Great Spirit Masauwu to verify the history he chronicles. The story before you is the results of his long and arduous journey in a series of scrolls entitled Coszcatl Mictlampa (Jewels of the North). Copies of his original works have been brought to the libraries of Helmsport-Ulatos, Tukan, Tulom-Itzi and even as far as Candlekeep in Faerun.

PEOPLES OF EASTERN ANCHOROME

Perhaps the most numerous people of eastern Anchorome are known as the Azuposi, but they are hardly the only culture to exist in the region. The origin stories and histories of each folk are given below summarized from Coszcatl Mictlampa.

The Azuposi. By far the most populous of the region, the Azuposi origin story begins with the world’s creation by the powerful spirits known as Sus’sistinako (the Spider Woman), and one who is simply known as the Sun. Achcauhtli originally believed that these beings were in fact aspects of Maztica and Kukul, but his direct conversations with Masauawu have changed his mind, despite the glaring similarities. Masauwu explained that the greater spirits just are and always have been. They existed long before mankind emerged and will exist long after they have gone. Achcauhtli in fact found legends of similar (if not the same) beings written in obscure yuan-ti texts that he came across in Candlekeep. The stories are from the time of the sarruhk empires.

While Sus’sistinako and the Sun may have created the world, they were not the progenitors of life itself. Instead, a song from the Spider Woman brought forth the creation deities Iyatiku and Alosaka, also known as the Corn Mother and the Germinator. It was these two great spirits who brought life to many of the plants and animals that live in eastern Anchorome today. Azuposi often believe that these two beings are the progenitors of the human race, but Achcauhtli has proven that the Azuposi migrated for many generations through countless miles of underground tunnels from the distant land of Kara-Tur. Their language still holds major similarities to the Wu-haltai of Kara-Tur’s northern regions.

Before their emergence from the underdark, the Azuposi existed in a state of terrible chaos and evil. They knew of the surface and an exit from the underground which they called Shipapu.

The Azuposi had many who sought an escape from their terrible existence, but they feared what they might find on the surface. They sought a hero and found it in a young boy known as Motsni. In Azuposi legend, Motsni was a bird who flew from Shipapu to the surface, but Achcauhtli has discovered that generations of storytelling has distorted the truth. Motsni was in nothing more than a brave traveler who had been called “Little Bird” much later in life. Achcauhtli garnered this bit of knowledge in a frank conversation with Masauwu, and he greatly enjoyed its telling as Motsni reminded him of his own profession as pochteca.

After many years of wandering on the surface, Motsni came across a small fire with a man unlike any he had ever seen. He realized immediately that the he was in the presence of a being that was something more than mortal. This was mankind’s first encounter with its patron deity Masauwu, the Skeleton Man. Masauwu offered the polite but desperate traveler a seat by his fire and a place for Motsni’s people on the surface where he would guide and protect them. Masauwu also promised that, if they chose to follow him, life would not be simple.

When Motsni returned with his people, Masauwu held to his promises. He taught them how to work the land and gave them the tools to do so. He instructed them on how to build homes from the mud, stone and straw (known as adobe) and to find water where there seemingly was none. The Azuposi knew of and venerated other great spirits, but Masauwu became the one which they venerated above all others.

---