Specialist290
Terracotta Statue Man
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2003
- Messages
- 1,335
Montezuma was angry. Strangely, he was also sentimental. He remembered yet another boyhood incident, when he was but a lad of 6, and his father was chief of the then still-nomadic Aztecs.
Young Monty was a boy fascinated with nature. One day, when his father's people still live in the White Lands before coming south to found Tenochtitlan, he came across and befriended a snake--or so he thought.
While Montezuma was holding and playing with the snake as boys his age would do, the snake began to glare. Little Monty stopped playing with it and looked back in curiosity as to what would happen next. He found out when the snake lashed out at his other arm, returning with blood in its mouth. Montezuma dropped the snake and ran home to Father with tears in his eyes.
Fortunately, the snake was not poisonous, and the bite healed well. As Monty's father consoled him, he looked at his young son's arm. Laughing, he said, "I guess you found out why you shouldn't play with snakes the hard way, eh?" The little prince looked up at his father and smiled, then started laughing too.
Montezuma started to smile as he remembered back to his childhood. Then he caught himself and remembered that leaders are not supposed to show their emotions, except when angry, and returned to his solemn visage before anyone noticed.
He had once again been bitten by a snake, and once again he had to step back. This time, however, instead of running away from it, he would crush it underfoot.
*******
Once more, Montezuma's warriors were on the march. They were headed north this time, marching onward towards the Tlaxcallan lands. The Divine Emperor had made his decision; since Tlaxcallan power could not be undermined, the Tlaxcallans would have to be crushed.
However, they would not be destroyed outright. Part of Montezuma's plan was to absorb those Tlaxcallans that he could, then subjugate the rest. As the Aztec army would near a village, a messenger would be dispatched to its lord, with a message asking him to join the Aztec effort. In exchange, he would be able to keep his lands and rights over his people, who would be considered Aztec citizens; the only other requirement was that he take an oath of fealty to Montezuma in the presence of the army.
If he refused, the lord would be allowed to gather his warriors for a confrontation the next day--Montezuma was not one to conquer a settlement without offering its lord a fair (if somewhat one-sided) fight--and any Tlaxcallan warriors who were not killed in battle and fell into Aztec hands would be sent to Tenochtitlan to be offered as sacrifices to Quetzalcoatl, as would 3 out of 5 males over the age of 20 in the village in question. The rest of the populace would remain in the settlement, with an Aztec overlord handpicked by Montezuma at the start of the expedition appointed over them. The native lord would be either killed or sent to Montezuma's palace, where he would become one of the Divine Emperor's servants. It would be a rather unexciting, and, for the natives, unprofitable, end to the conflict.
Of course, once the Tlaxcallan king was captured (if he didn't fall in battle first), he was to be executed on the spot. The Divine Emperor would show no mercy to him--his heart would join those that the sun god would feast upon in the morning.
ORDERS
-Send about 950 warriors to deal with the Tlaxcallan alliance, as mentioned above. Train the remaining 330 to the next experience level.
-Expand army.
-Expand economy.
DIPLOMACY
To: Mayas
Welcome, friends. We hope to establish a lasting relationship, which may lead to trade, political, and economic agreements in the future.
Young Monty was a boy fascinated with nature. One day, when his father's people still live in the White Lands before coming south to found Tenochtitlan, he came across and befriended a snake--or so he thought.
While Montezuma was holding and playing with the snake as boys his age would do, the snake began to glare. Little Monty stopped playing with it and looked back in curiosity as to what would happen next. He found out when the snake lashed out at his other arm, returning with blood in its mouth. Montezuma dropped the snake and ran home to Father with tears in his eyes.
Fortunately, the snake was not poisonous, and the bite healed well. As Monty's father consoled him, he looked at his young son's arm. Laughing, he said, "I guess you found out why you shouldn't play with snakes the hard way, eh?" The little prince looked up at his father and smiled, then started laughing too.
Montezuma started to smile as he remembered back to his childhood. Then he caught himself and remembered that leaders are not supposed to show their emotions, except when angry, and returned to his solemn visage before anyone noticed.
He had once again been bitten by a snake, and once again he had to step back. This time, however, instead of running away from it, he would crush it underfoot.
*******
Once more, Montezuma's warriors were on the march. They were headed north this time, marching onward towards the Tlaxcallan lands. The Divine Emperor had made his decision; since Tlaxcallan power could not be undermined, the Tlaxcallans would have to be crushed.
However, they would not be destroyed outright. Part of Montezuma's plan was to absorb those Tlaxcallans that he could, then subjugate the rest. As the Aztec army would near a village, a messenger would be dispatched to its lord, with a message asking him to join the Aztec effort. In exchange, he would be able to keep his lands and rights over his people, who would be considered Aztec citizens; the only other requirement was that he take an oath of fealty to Montezuma in the presence of the army.
If he refused, the lord would be allowed to gather his warriors for a confrontation the next day--Montezuma was not one to conquer a settlement without offering its lord a fair (if somewhat one-sided) fight--and any Tlaxcallan warriors who were not killed in battle and fell into Aztec hands would be sent to Tenochtitlan to be offered as sacrifices to Quetzalcoatl, as would 3 out of 5 males over the age of 20 in the village in question. The rest of the populace would remain in the settlement, with an Aztec overlord handpicked by Montezuma at the start of the expedition appointed over them. The native lord would be either killed or sent to Montezuma's palace, where he would become one of the Divine Emperor's servants. It would be a rather unexciting, and, for the natives, unprofitable, end to the conflict.
Of course, once the Tlaxcallan king was captured (if he didn't fall in battle first), he was to be executed on the spot. The Divine Emperor would show no mercy to him--his heart would join those that the sun god would feast upon in the morning.
ORDERS
-Send about 950 warriors to deal with the Tlaxcallan alliance, as mentioned above. Train the remaining 330 to the next experience level.
-Expand army.
-Expand economy.
DIPLOMACY
To: Mayas
Welcome, friends. We hope to establish a lasting relationship, which may lead to trade, political, and economic agreements in the future.
. Those of you who are still writing stories 
