Ipana III

Ipana the Third was the most influential and long-lived Revered Counselor of Nexal in the 12 century DR.

History
Ipana the Third was still a ten-year-old youth when he was given the throne of the Nexalan empire, inherited from his father, Ipana II in the. The young ruler picked up from the newly risen empire left to him by Ipana II and solidified all the settlements within the Valley of Nexal under one rule, one culture, one religion. Under his rule, nobles of Tezat, Azatl, and Zokil, all intermarried with nobles of Nexal, and the Cult of Zaltec grew in power, eventually birthing the Cult of Viperhand that would doom the empire two centuries later.

The unification started with the expansion of establishing roads and trade routes among all the settlements of the Valley of Nexal, pacifying the region. The calm did not please the Bloody Zaltec as the deity demanded war and sacrifices. Ipana thought the growth and flourishing of his nation to be a blessing from Nexal's divine patron, and he did not want to anger Zaltec and lose the favor. To please the god, Ipana started the tradition of the Feathered Wars, the practice sure to be thought barbaric and despicable by many other cultures. Sages argued over the origin of the tradition, whether it was birthed by Ipana III himself, the clergy of Zaltec, or even a restored ritual from Maztica's ancient past. The Revered Counselor Ipana the Third issued the decree to all the cities of the Valley of Nexal to assemble their best warriors. The Nexala armies, each from its own city, were to stage a war where blood was to be spilled, and fighters were to be captured.

The Feathered Wars took place along the great lakes' shores, and the Revered Counselor led his army. The Valley became consumed by war as nobles, courtiers, women, and gods watched. Each war took an entire day and lasted until each Nexala city captured enough slaves. By the, twenty-year-old Ipana III earned respect of the empire for the new tradition and for showing battle prowess among his warriors. All captured warriors were slaughtered, their hearts carved out and fed to the Bloody Zaltec, keeping the deity sated. Each year's Feathered War was bigger and more elaborate than the previous, and with each slew of sacrifices, Nexal was blessed with harvest, trade, and rain.

Eventually, the Valley's cities of Azatl, Zokil, and Tezat managed to beat the mighty Nexal in the number of slaves captured after yet another Feathered War. The Revered Counselor considered that a failure and set his eyes on the neighboring peoples to bring more hearts to Zaltec. The first subjugated towns that fell to Nexal were Cordotl and Palul to the east. Next, Ipana took his armies to the nation of Kultaka and was defeated. Kultakans would remain free and unsubjugated for the next two centuries. Huacli was next, and unlike Kultaka, the Nexala forces devastated the peaceful city-states. The town of Ixtal was the first to fall and its temples – torched to honor the bloodthirsty god. Ipana brought back five thousand slaves to Nexal from that conquest. The city of Pulco was conquered without spilling blood through politics, leading to a ten-year war against the Huacli that greatly enriched Nexal. Otomi was the only city-state among Huacli that remained untouched by Nexal, even after a three-year siege.

These were the last military campaigns of the Revered Counselor Ipana III. The rest of his life was spent integrating the city-states of Cordotl and Palul into the empire and organizing annual tribute payments of slaves and valuables from the Huacli cities.

Ipana III perished of extremely advanced age in the. He was survived by a copious amount of children and grandchildren. However, the title of the next Revered Counselor was passed to his great-nephew Tolco on the behest of the noblemen of Nexal, who deemed Ipana's direct line to be less capable of birthing quality future inheritors.