Branded heretics by the Sabbat Archbishops, the Mictlan hold a faith very different from that of the European Kindred. They spit at the mention of Caine, as they donīt descend from him.

Their legends speak of a time when the gods, the Celestines, were creating the world. The first man and woman were created, but they were immortal, knew not of sickness and suffering. Thus was born Mictlantecuhtli, the God of Death, and Mictecacihuatl, his wife. These two gods would make sure that mankind didn't believe themselves as gods, for always Death waited for them at the end of their lives.

Mictlantecuhtli carved his kingdom, the Mictlan, in the bowels of the earth, and there he would wait for the souls of the dead. Together in their dark realm, the Death Gods saw their cousins create servants that would represent them on earth. And they had an idea.

Mictecacihuatl traveled to the living lands and entered a woman's belly, to be born as human. She was born and grew, remembering from the start her mission.

As a human, Mictecacihuatl learned the arts of sorcery, and she called for her husband to join her. He arrived, and they had strange children. They were sons and daughters of Death, yet they lived. When the time was right, the Death Gods killed their progeny, and gave them the gift of undeath.

The other gods were angered at this violation of the Mother's cycle, but Mictlantecuhtli appeased them by offering his Childer to them. Some gods ate the undead given to them, but others, out of curiosity or compassion, kept them and appointed them their dark messengers on earth.

The undead would serve the purpose of Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl: to remind humankind that they were not gods, they could die by the whim of the gods. As a reward, the gods allowed the undead to partake in the sacrifices, to drink the blood shed in their honor; but as a reminder of their unlife and that they themselves were not gods but servants of gods, the undead would not be able to gain sustenance from any other source, and they would never see the light of day again, as Death was their legacy. Thus were they born and called themselves tlaltecuhtli, lords of the earth.

The Tremere deny the veracity of the Mictlan's legend, stating that it was Caine who probably traveled to the New World and masqueraded as the God of Death. However, the ties the Mictlan has to both the Underworld an the god they are dedicated to is undeniable, as they manifest knowledge and Disiplines unique to them alone.

Organization

The Mictlan can be considered as a main clan consisting of several bloodlines, though there the analogies end. Each bloodline is called a Calpulli, like the guild-neighborhoods of Tenochtitlan. Each Calpulli is ruled by a Tlatoani. The Tlatoanis are said to be the children of Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl, given to the gods. Only they know for sure, and they are not telling.

As a whole, the Mictlan is governed by the Council of Tlatoanis, with the leader being Mictlaxochitl, Tlatoani of Calpulli Mictlantecuhtli. She claims to be the elder daughter of the Death Gods, and the other Tlatoanis comply. Mictlaxochitl, however, is not all powerful; she is still bound by the decisions of the Council, though her opinion carries a lot more weight than her brothersī and sisters'. In matters of internal Calpulli affairs, the Tlatoani has the final world, though sometimes a matter trascends the single Tlatoani's jurisdiction.

The original number of the Calpullis is unknown, only ten remain, and one of them lost its Tlatoani. The Calpullis are named after the god who accepted the undead as his/her servant, and the Tlatoanis took names accordingly: some are named as their god, some as an Incarna and others have a name of their own.

History

The Mictlan's influence on human society was always of a religious nature, they were the earthly representation of the gods, and ruled as a theocracy.

It's that attitude as the gods' gift to mortals that eventually brought their doom when the Spaniards arrived. Being a Mictlan vampire was a priviledge, a divine gift, a chance to partake on the gods' meals in exchange of service. That's why they were never many. Candidates were carefully chosen and would only be Embraced after the approval of all the rulers. Even then, the Embrace was a gruesome ritual that would ensure that only those fit would become tlaltecuhtli; Mictlan vampires.

The Flower Wars, conflicts bent upon capturing sacrificial victims from the other's army, were mainly a concoction of the Mictlan, who thus kept themselves supplied with their bloody sustenance without resorting to hunt and drawing suspicion to themselves.

One of the Tlatoanis became so obsessed with his mission to elevate his lord to greatness that he went insane: Tlatoani Huitzilopochtli, servant of the aztec god of war and the sun. He commited the sin of pride, as he forgot his purpose as servant of both his god and Mictlantecuhtli and appointed himself god. He became bloodthirsty, never satiated by the blood offerings he received. This recklesness alienated one of his followers: Tlacaelel, the man behind the Aztec Empire. Tlacaelel had been on the brink of Awakening as a Mage of the White Brotherhood, but he abandoned his mentors to build his dream of a great empire where men and women would be as one with the cosmos. Without knowing, he became the ghoul of Huitzilopochtli and, when he realized the mistake he had made when he trusted his god, he fell into a deep depresion.

Around this year, the explorers reached the outskirts of the New World, and Tlacaelel, alerted by spirits bound to him by a Garou friend, resolved to destroy his beloved Empire so as to have a new and pure one rise from the ashes. He called to the European Kindred and, when they arrived, he was Embraced by the Ventrue.

The Council of Tlatoanis sentenced him to death, but the deed was done and the sentence never fulfilled: the European Kindred were here, along with the Inquisition. The Mictlan's only chance was escape. Two Calpullis were destroyed during the battles, the others had to hide or go into Torpor.

After the Conquest, the Mictlan had to abandon their roles as gods and became rogues and demons; by observing the Camarilla, they adapted their usual strategy of domination -religion- into politics, though they vowed never to forget their origins; never to become so fascinated with intrigue as to forget their connection to the gods. They were quickly targeted for destruction by the Camarilla, a general Blood Hunt declared on them. But the Mictlan had the rural population's support, after all, they were the gods' messengers.

Soon, the Mictlan learned how to create social unrest; their sphere of influence was the lower strata of society; those who still believed in the ancient gods, even if only subsconsciously. When the Anarchs launched their Second Revolution, the Mictlan saw an opportunitty to strike at the invaders; they attacked the federal army at night; pulled what little strings they had on politics and generally made life difficult for the Camarilla. Problem was, the Tlatoanis didn't anticipate the Sabbat's intervention.

Caught off-guard by the arrival of the ruthless new player in the game, the Mictlan had to fall back, they were too few to present a decent battle to the 'barbarians', as they called the Sabbat Kindred. Their energies were spent into hiding from the new invaders to their lands, for those savages were not held back by a Masquerade and the chance of an all-out war was always hanging in the air. They adopted a Masquerade of their own, but not because of fear of the humans, but of the Sabbat.

It was during this time that the leaderless Calpulli Huitzilopochtli betrayed the Mictlan and joined the Sabbat.

Things were never the same for the Mictlan; Huitzilopochtli's betrayal showed them that not only change in tactics was necessary, but also change in traditions. They became more aggressive and direct, sometimes forsaking their secrecy. The last straw was drawn in 1968, when the Sabbat, fearful that the student movement might be a Camarilla move to recover the country, orchestrated the Tlatelolco massacre in October 2nd. The Tlatoanis were outraged by the depths that the barbarians could fall to and, for the first time in their history, Embraced indiscriminately all the dying left on the Plaza. Several possessed the will to survive initiation and the Mictlan saw its numbers engrossed by many angry people demanding revenge.

Since then, life in Mexico has been hell for the Sabbat; social unrest, terrorism, political assassination, riots, bombings; all are sign that war is at the turn of a corner, the niches left empty by the Camarilla are filled now by the Mictlan.

The ties to the Underworld

However, as history progressed, the Mictlan broke its ties with the Hierarchy, seeing the wave of intolerance that was rising and remained loyal to the Ferrymen, who still took the indian dead to the Far Shore of Mictlan. After Charon disappeared, war was declared against the Deathlords for the treatment of the wraiths: no Mictlan vampire would aid a Hierarchy wraith, and Renegades and Heretics found in the tlaltecuhtli useful allies in the living world.

On the whole, Mictlani and individual wraiths get along just fine; the Mictlani can talk to them and there exists mutual respect as well as a desire on the vampire's heart to help the wraith Transcend. Vampires like those of Calpulli Tlazolteotl actually take lovers from beyond and can cause false Harrowings (see in the Calpulli's description), and the members of Calpulli Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca are sought for their knowledge of Castigate and also because they make good friends.

Even some Spectres have dealings with these vampires, but it's unusual, for the Mictlan serves the Celestines, and Oblivion is very bad for their health.

There are some rumors among the Hierarchy: that the Mictlan is actually helping the survivors of the Dark Kingom of Obsidian, and together they plan for the Hierarchy's demise in Latin American lands. This is halfway true: the Mictlan were never very good friends of Ix Chel and his dominion; they resembled Stygia too much and anyway, their lord Mictlantecuhtli created the Far Shore of Mictlan. The survivors of the Dark Kingdom have gathered on that Far Shore and, under the guidance of Moctezuma II, appointed emperor of the indian dead, are launching small strikes against Hierarchy stronghold, hoping that, when the invading dead are destroyed, the living would have better luck in expeling the other invaders also.

• The Mictlan Main Page.
• The Mictlan Vampire
• The Calpullis
• The powers of the dead.

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