Zokil

Zokil was a warlike nation of Maztica, absorbed by the great Nexalan empire, centuries before its fall in the 14 century DR.

Description
It stood at the base of the Mount Zatal volcano at the southern edge the fertile and lush Valley of Nexal. Along with Nexal, Cordotl, Tezat, and Azat, the warlike city-states grew around the great lakes of the valley.

History
Zokil was built sometime during or shortly after the end of Golden Age of Payit. The city-states of the Valley of Nexal spent their early years in bloody wars against each other for pure joy of battle and satisfaction of the cruel deities of Zaltec, Azul, and Tezca. The city-states of Azatl, Zokil, and Tezat had numerous smaller towns and villages of the valley ally with them, maintaining fragile political equilibrium. When a city grew too powerful, the others started a war to equalize the power in the valley. The city of Nexal was the last to be established at the island in the center of the great lakes of the valley, built around the holy pillar of Zaltec.

Years later, as the city of Nexal grew and gained power, the Revered Counselor of Nexal, Ipana the Third reigned between the and the. He was believed to be the most influential leader of the empire, and under his rule, the independent city-states of the Valley of Nexal were united as the Nexalan empire, under Nexal's rule, its culture, and religion. Azatl and Zokil were first to be subjugated and became firmly cemented as part of the bloody empire, absorbed into the city of Nexal. Zokil's gods were replaced by the predominant worship of Zaltec, and the city's nobility became the nobility of Nexal.

By the end of Ipana's rule, 1180 DR, noble families of Tezat, Azatl, and Zokil all sought to marry their families into the nobility of Nexal in hopes of getting close to the empire's throne. Another significant change brought on by Ipana III were the Feathered Wars. As the empire had no immediate enemies, Bloody Zaltec still demanded sacrifices, and blood spilled in his name. To ensure the continued blessings of their deity, Nexal organized war-like competitions between the cities of the Valley of Nexal. All captured warriors from opposing sides had their hearts carved out and fed to the Bloody deity at the end of each Feathered War.

As the empire of Nexal fell during the Night of Wailing in the, Mount Zatal volcano erupted, and the followers of the Cult of the Viperhand were transformed into monstrous humanoids by the deities of the land. Zokil likely shared the fate of larger Nexal, becoming home to various warring and savage non-human creatures born during the cataclysm.