Mictlatepec, also called the City of the Dead, was an ancient city in Maztica. It had an ill reputation, and strange creatures were said to lurk there.[1]
Geography[]
Mictlatepec was situated on the top of an artificial plateau (made by leveling the top of a mountain) in the region of Huacli in central Maztica.[1]
Mictlatepec was a large Maztican city, built mainly of stone. It had less murals painted on its walls than other Maztican cities, though, and much of it had fallen into disrepair—the fountains had filled with filth, and thatch and other organic materials rotted and grew mold (including the city's food stores and cocoa). Due to the work of the mictlaneca, though, it remained largely intact.[1]
Among the more prominent buildings in the city were the palace complex, the Temple of Zaltec, the Temples of Azul and Tezca, a market complex (with a treasury attached), and a ball court.[1]
Inhabitants[]
Mictlatepec was inhabited by the "mictlaneca", or "dead ones". There were four kinds of mictlaneca, created from the city's original inhabitants. What kind of mictlanec a person became depended on their social standing in life. The four kinds of mictlaneca were wights, ghasts, ghouls, and zombies.[1]
Society[]
Mictlatepec retained some of the structure it had in life, with the undead mictlaneca reenacting their former daily activities each night. By day, however, the city appeared deserted, and the mictlaneca hid in underground tunnels and tombs, away from the sun.[1]
The different kinds of mictlaneca had a certain hierarchy, loosely based on their social standing in life. The king of Mictlatepec, Alban, was a wight. His four advisers were also wights, although they possessed only half of his strength. Below them, the nobles and high-ranking priests were ghasts. After the ghasts, many more mictlaneca were ghouls: the warriors, merchants, and artisans of Mictlatepec. The servants, farmers, and other commoners were zombies.[1]
Any intruders or trespassers in the city were attacked and, if captured, taken to the priests to be sacrificed and turned into a mictlaneca.[1]
There were 5 wights, and approximately 32 ghasts, 83 ghouls, and 96 zombies inhabiting Mictlatepec.[1]
History[]
Before the Huacli people inhabited the region named for them, another people called the Zateca dominated the area. They ruled several cities, among them Mictlatepec. Originally an administrative center, the city later became important in trade. However, this prosperity ended during the reign of Alban.[1]
Alban was a king of Mictlatepec who, after ruling well for many years, decided to extend his reign for much longer. He instructed the royal hishnashaper to craft him an amulet to make it so. The hishnashaper did, making a talisman of perpetual life. Alban wore it, and when he died, he promptly returned to life—mostly. He became the first mictlanec, a wight.[1]
Alban began to create other mictlaneca, commanding another talisman—a knife of perpetual service—be made. This talisman animated those it slayed as a lesser mictlaneca: ghasts, ghouls, and zombies. The city was transformed from a vibrant center of trade into a macabre, evil place, and fell into ruins. However, the mictlaneca "lived" on, reenacting their former lives each night, before hiding from the sun during the day.[1]