2nd Edition

-Cantos de primavera

Rises the smoke of battle and the shields resound

thunderous, rises a wall of dust there where

your flowers shake, oh, Warrior, where make thunder

the varied Eagles and Tigers.

They'll be falling, they'll be suffering ruin: the battle

is woven, the dust is yellowed, the flowery reeds are

parted, and their crowns open.

-Chants of Spring

This is the 2nd. Edition of a previous (waaay back) series of posts regarding Mexico in the World of Darkness. My experience as a Storyteller has increased as well as my knowledge of what I am writing about. Part of that knowledge I owe to Nicholas Alejandro Rossier ([email protected] but I think he moved to [email protected]), which pointed me to a very important character I had forgotten about:

Tlacaelel, as well as providing the background for the Mictlan.

Most of the changes that have gone on are due to a series of books I read recently: "La mujer dormida debe dar a luz" (The sleeping woman must give birth) by Ayocuan, "Tlacaelel, el azteca entre los aztecas" (Tlacaelel, aztec between the aztecs) and "Regina: 2 de octubre no se olvida" (Regina: october 2nd is not forgotten) by Antonio Velasco Pi~a; chapter 3 is entirely based on the last book. Also, I have better hold of what is the Mictlan about as well as the Eagle Knights, a module I wrote similar to Highlander: the Gathering, Angel/Demon: the Rapture, etc.

The Bete Tribes are already out, available on J.B. Zanzibar's WWW page as well as Denis Payne's and Christian Malterer's, the renegade Clan Huitzilopochtli is out too, the Mictlan and the Mage Traditions are still in my head. As for the Eagle Knights, I'm sending them over to WW and so, won't be posted until they give me the big no-no. (If you can't wait, ask for them and I'll send them via private e-mail, but you must swear NOT TO POST IT OR UPLOAD IT TO ANY GOPHER, FTP OR WWW SITE _NOR_ SHARING IT WITH FRIENDS WHO MIGHT)

I skimmed over "Awakenings: Diablerie Mexico" and found it to be grossly innacurate (Mictlantecuhtli is the _nahuatl_ god of death;certainly not mayan). I've only heard bits and pieces of "The Chaos Factor", and will only use what is consistent with my world.

MEXICO: THE BATTLEGROUND

The territory known as Mexico is at the center of manysupernatural parties, though little is said about it to the uninitiated. Many Akashic Brothers have leaked that Mexico can be the key to Ascension and the Awakening of the masses, for a major Node is about to open in Mexico City, a Node said to be Gaia's Axis.

For this reason or even unconsciously, all the powers in the World of Darkness seek to appropriate the land, heedless of the consequences and heedless of the former inhabitants. The Technocracy is strong, but strong are the Dreamspeakers and the Celestial Chorists also. The Wyrm and the Weaver strangle the lands, but the Bete fight valiantly for the Wyld. The Sabbat controls the Cities as the Camarilla struggles to gain the country back, but the mysterious Mictlan rises again to claim power over their ancestral homeland.

Heir to the Toltec civilizations, the Aztec dominated the center of Mexico with their military and magical might. They rose from an impoverished nomad tribe to a wealthy civilization thanks to the will of their leaders and an understanding of the nature of the Tellurian.

From the fabled Aztlan, they followed the guidance of the Wyld Runners, a Garou tribe that led them from the north and delivered them to the Lake of Texcoco, where Huitzilopochtli (Left-Handed Hummingbird), a powerful Celestine, gave them the sign he had promised: the Eagle and the Snake, fighting over the nopal on a small island. The Aztec settled and prospered, and eventually they engulfed the neighboring city states and became the power they were when the Spaniards found them.

Estoy tan acostumbrado a estar vivo

que ni cuenta me di cuando me volvi zopilote.

Cuando vuelo no tengo miedo;

nadie me ha podido alcanzar.

En la casa del colibri no se ha

escuchado la ultima palabra.

/I'm so used to being alive

/that I didn't even realize when I turned into a vulture.

/When I fly I'm not afraid;

/no one has been able to reach me.

/In the house of the hummingbird

/the last word hasn't been heard.

-Jorge Reyes, "A la izquierda del colibri"

Closely tied to the history of Mexico are four children of Gaia, or Coatlicue (Skirt of Snakes) as she was called, four Incarna who rose in power to the point of claiming the title of Celestines themselves. The first of these Celestines is Quetzalcoatl (Feathered or Winged Serpent), who was worshipped by many Balam in the Mayan region under the name of Kukulkan. He moved his influence to the north, were he was embraced by the toltecs and had two temples in Teotihuacan (City of Gods), the one directly consecrated to him, and the one to his other name: Ehecatl, god of the Wind.

Now, the magi in Mexico were always associated with the gods,and were revered priests. The Tradition that served Quetzalcoatl in Teotihuacan was named the White Brotherhood. They were adept in the Spheres of Mind and Spirit; some replacing the last with Forces. They were mainly scholars and priests, with teaching as their main concern, as dictated by their lord Quetzalcoatl, who manifested in this Realm and possesed the body of one of his worshippers. By the name of Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (Our Lord 1-reed FeatheredSerpent) he ruled the toltecs in the city of Tula, and soon gained the friendship of a pack of Wendigo Garou, who abandoned their tribe to become the first members of the Ehecatl Tribe.

In the legend of the Five Suns, it's stated that the first Sun was Tezcatlipoca (Smoking-Mirror), and, when he was brought down by his brother Quetzalcoatl, he unleashed his revenge in the form of thousands of jaguars, for this great cat is kin to him, and thus were born the Nahual, werejaguars whose allegiance is to the Smoking-Mirror. The Nahual, as their lord, were great sorcerers and thieves, and helped Tezcatlipoca overthrow Quetzalcoatl from his seat of power. To do so, Tezcatlipoca gave many mages the command of the Sphere of Entropy and Spirit, and so the Nightspawn Tradition was born.

When Topiltzin saw his kingdom fall into disgrace, he fled south to the Mayan regions, stopping at a small monastery, where he left several members of the White Brotherhood to keep half of his Sign, a powerful Talisman in the shape of a shell, taking the other half to the Guardian of the Mayan Traditions.

The toltec civilization dwindled and died, and the mexica tribe, later to be called Aztecs, arrived and took power, taking much of their mithology from toltecan stock, which also contained bits of the Mayan knowledge.

The Celestine Hutzilopochtli was a warrior, prone to frenzy, and the legends told that he expelled his sister, the Moon, Coyolxauhqui (Rattles-in-her-face), from the Great Temple. This simbolized that the Aztec shunned the Moon religion and embraced the Sun religion that Huitzilopochtli represented. This caused an estrangement with the Wyld Runners, who nevertheless had Kinfolk with the Aztec and remained in contact.

Oblivious to his brothers' squabbles was the Celestine Tlaloc, the god of Rain and Fertility, he had grown in power steadily albeit slowly. He had been one of the Suns in the legend, and, when brought down by Tezcatlipoca, had flooded the land. Now, he exists quietly, with a number of Jagglings and Gafflings called the tlaloque.

A pack of Uktena, while traveling south, encountered the tlaloque and, as they liked the land and found it rich in magic, abandoned their tribe in favor of the Rain god, and became the Tlaloque Tribe. Tlaloc was served by his own Tradition of Magi, who took the name of Sorcerers of the Quiet Gladness, the surname of their god. These mages managed the Spheres of Life and Forces, and were healers and benefactors of their peoples.

Despues del eclipse de sangre / After the eclipse of blood

ya casi ni gente somos. / we are nearly not even people.

Aqui donde llueve tierra / Here where soil rains

los signos estan rotos / the seals are broken.

Xolotl bajo al infierno / Xolotl descended to hell

en forma de perro. / in the shape of dog.

Solo quedan las casas / Only the houses are left

y los indios colgados / and the indians hanging

en el viento encendido. / in the lit wind.

- Jorge Reyes, "A la izquierda del colibri"

The nahuatl Realm of the Dead, the Mictlan gave the perfect name to the largest organization of vampires in the New World. No one knows for certain how they came to be; when confronted with another Kindred, a Mictlan vampire will scoff over a mention of Caine. The Mictlan believe themselves children of the lords of Mictlan: Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlacihuatl (often called Mictecacihuatl). Whatever the truth may be, the Mictlan _are_ vampires in every sense of the word, although their blood has a strange taste to diablerists.

The Mictlan was divided into several Calpullis, each of them consecrated to one of the gods and ruled by a Tlatoani. The Council of Tlatoanis is ruled by Mictlaxochitl, the oldest vampire in Mexico. Mictlaxochitl claims to be carnal daughter as well as Childe of Mictlacihuatl, who is now in the Mictlan besides her husband, their father. The most powerful Calpullis are Mictlantecuhtli and its ruler Mictlaxochitl; Huitzilopochtli and its namesake ruler; Tezcatlipoca and its ruler Ocelotl; Tlaloc and its ruler Chalchiutlicue; and Quetzalcoatl and its ruler Topiltzin. Lesser Calpullis include Tlazolteotl, Xolotl, Camaxtle, and Xipe Totec.

The Mictlan has its own Discipline, mandatory to all of its members; some of the Calpullis have developed their own Disciplines or mirror those of the European Kindred.Less politically minded than their European counterparts, Mictlan vampires believed in cosmic balance, taking their role as predators of humanity with pride. A Mictlan vampire is proud of her nature, not prone to much angst like the Camarilla and able to ride the frenzy like one of the Sabbat. The Mictlan was more concerned in keeping the food supply as well as the worship to the gods they represented than in political influence and internal strife. That was soon to change.

A series of influences shaped what became the Aztec Empire: in the times when the Aztecs owed allegiance and paid tribute to the city-state of Azcapotzalco, a young aztec man was gifted with the highest honor in nahuatl culture: he was chosen by the White Brotherhood to be the next carrier of half of the Sacred Sign of Quetzalcoatl, the other half being in the care of the Guardian of Mayan Traditions. This young inititate was Tlacaelel. never completed his studies as a mage, as he was prompted to return to his land for the tecpanec, ruled by the cruel King Maxtla of Azcapotzalco, sought to punish the upstart aztec kingdom and succesfully murdered the aztec king. Tlacaelel was offered the position of emperor, but he declined, renaming his brother Izcoatl instead. Thanks to his time with the White Brotherhood, Tlacaelel knew that the aztecs were the only hope of a renaissance in mexican culture, so he began to shape the roots of an Empire.

Within the chantry of the White Brotherhood, Tlacaelel met Nezahualcoyotl, the young texcocan prince whose father was brutally murdered by Maxtla's predecessor, his kingdom stripped from him, the prince had vowed to reclaim his kingdom. The young men established a fast and lasting friendship, which would prove essential in the forging of the Aztec Empire. Unbeknownst to both of them, Nezahualcoyotl (Hungry Coyote) was a Galliard of the Ehecatl Garou, his First Change coming to him a little after parting from Tlacaelel and the White Brotherhood chantry. With the aid from his tribe and thanks to an alliance with the Aztec, Nezahualcoyotl reclaimed his kingdom at the same time both Texcoco and Tenochtitlan rid themselves of the tecpanec domination.

Tlacaelel was once bethroted to a beautiful Aztec woman named Citlalmina, but the promise of marriage was destroyed the moment Tlacaelel became the High Priest of Quetzalcoatl. Nonetheless, Citlalmina and Tlacaelel were as one being and, as he shaped the empire from the upper echelons, she helped shape it from the lower,becoming a heroine for the aztec populace.

The Aztecs knew of the other Celestines besides their own, and respected them enough to give them temples in their capital city. The Great Temple had two houses: one for Hutzilopochtli, their Totem, and one for Tlaloc, their benefactor. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca had smaller temples besides the Great, and both mage Traditions' hatred for each other could be felt from afar. The Nahual and the Nightspawn though, were more politically natured, and managed for Tezcatlipoca to become patron of education, and also were part in the revival of the Order of the Jaguar Knights, a military order were Nahual lead batallions of Awakened warriors.

Tlacaelel had revived the Orders, conceding a little power to the followers of Tezcatlipoca. Those warriors from the Jaguar Knights whose spirituality was higher (and proven not to be Nahual) were admitted within the Eagle Knights, who ranked higher than the Jaguar, as they were consecrated to Huitzilopochtli, and they were Awakened too, as were the Archpriests, the Tradition that served Huitzilopochtli with the Spheres of Forces and Prime.

Little did they know that from the beginning of the civilization, a Vampire elder had gained control of the priesthood and established human sacrifice to satisfy his needs. From the ranks of the Mictlan rose a strong Kindred. This vampire had no name, but he named himself Huitzilopochtli, as he was very prone to frenzies too. All of his Childer believed him to be insane, and the quota of blood was high to calm the Sire. As many Archpriests were actually vampires of the Clan Hutzilopochtli, they resisted the rays of the Sun much better than any other Clan, as the Celestine Huitzilopochtli viewed his new servitors with a certain amount of amusement, and had granted them the gift of Solar Resistance.

The vampire Huitzilopochtli saw in Tlacaelel the perfect ghoul,

and Dominated him to reinstall the human sacrifices in his honor.

Tlacaelel truly believed that the sacrifices attained a sort of

cosmic balance, and did everything within his power to enalt

Huitzilopochtli in the eyes of the people, destroying even the

records of conquered Azcapotzalco. His friend Nezahualcoyotl refused

to surrender his own records and opposed Huitzilopochtli, as he was

dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. The fact that Texcoco was an allied

kingdom instead of a vassal, kept the Aztec armies off

Nezahualcoyotl's land.

In his quest for knowledge, Tlacaelel traveled north, intent of

finding and contacting the fabled Empire of Aztlan, cradle of the

nahuatl people. Upon discovering the remains of the once great

culture in the paintings of a cave, he realized that the human

sacrifices were a mistake, but the aztec priesthood, now controled by

vampires, oposed him and Tlacaelel was unable to stop the practice he

had established.

Sometime later, Citlalmina died misteriously; they were both old

now, but Tlacaelel was kept young by his Sire's blood. Tlacaelel felt

Citlalmina's death, and was surprised that he hadn't died with her.

The answer was in the foul blood coursing in his veins.

_Outside the Empire_

In the fringes of Mesoamerica, were the human tribes were mostly

nomadic, the magick was dominated by the Dreamspeakers. Wyld Runner

packs wandered the north as the Balam wandered the south. The

Tlaloque were very active in the villages in contrast with the

Ehecatl, who stayed close to the cities. Vampires were very rare, and

most were just ravening monsters.

The Impergium was very loose here, and by the time the cities

began their rise, it had already ended.

Del mar los vieron llegar / From the sea they saw them come

Mis hermanos emplumados / My feathered brothers

Eran los hombres barbados / were the bearded men

De la profecia esperada / of the expected prophesy.

-Amparo Ochoa, "La Malinche"

Clan Huitzilopochtli soon announced Tlacaelel's death, but he

was kept prisoner. Seeing that his beloved land was quickly falling

into decadence under the vampire's rule, Tlacaelel knew from the gods

that something had to be done to instill new life into mexican

culture for it to be ready to rise into splendor as a new Aztlan. He

enacted a rite that summoned the European Kindred along with the Magi

and Garou; the supernaturals who knew of this soon branded him a

traitor.

A very heavy blow fell on the Aztec establichment when the

Spaniards brought with them hordes of Celestial Chorists, as well as

the power of the Technocracy and the Inquisition.

Several mages had begun to flee the cities due to the omens

presented to emperor Moctezuma before the Spaniards arrival: a comet,

a bird with a mirror on it's head that gave the image of the fall of

Tenochtitlan, the appearance of two-headed beings, and the echos of

the wailing of the Llorona (the Wailer or Mourner) a Wraith that

would haunt the streets of Mexico years ahead.

The white men resembled the bearded Quetzalcoatl when he had

ruled, and they beared the Cross, one of his simbols, and many

thought them to be Quetzalcoatl himself. Only the Archpriests and the

Sorcerors of Quiet Gladness buyed the story, and they paid dearly for

it. Only the White Brotherhood, alerted by Tlacaelel, and the

Nightspawn, understood that the invasion was an implant on the

decaying empire, and sought to preserve as much knowledge and lore as

possible, for the benefit of the new Aztlan.

The Celestial Chorus banished all other forms of magick, and all

Mages, Garou and Nahual fled to the wilderness, were they survived.

The Kindred were not as fortunate, as the Inquisition actively hunted

them down to the point of extinction. The elder Hutzilopochtli and

many of his Clan went to their piramids for shelter, but many were

brought down, churches being built over them.

The Mictlan, unprepared for the onslaught, was decimated; two

Calpullis were destroyed before the rest could find shelter from the

rampaging Inquisition, very few of them remained, which left them

crippled and unable to resist the incoming of the European Kindred

and later domination by the Camarilla. All members of the Mictlan

went underground (literally) and hence asserted their domination as

guerrilla tactics. The Council's first decision since the Conquest

was for a blood hunt on Tlacaelel, as he had greeted the European

vampires and become a member of the Ventrue. The Mictlan never knew

of Tlacaelel's motivations, and soon the whole community of mexican

supernaturals soght to bring the once Empire forger down.

Even the Eagle Knights suffered; as Emperor Cuauhtemoc ordered

them to make the last stand on the suburb of Tlatelolco, he told them

the truth about their god's vampiric nature. Those who did not die

willingly in the last sacrificial battle hid in the mountains,

preserving the sacred knowledge of their order but with their spirits

broken.

No one knows where Huitzilopochtli hid, but he survived in

Torpor for more than 400 years.

_The Colonial Years_

As the Spaniard army moved further into the continent, the

Celestial Chorus worked to exterminate the local magi and appropriate

their chantries; so it was that the Cathedral was built over the

Great Temple, and the Celestial Chorists worked their magick from

there.

Meanwhile, the Inquisition hunted every supernatural creature

ever to walk the Aztec Empire. Clan Huitzilopochtli was exterminated

save a few members and Huitzilopochtli himself. Though the Garou and

the Nahual were happy for this, they didn't have time for

celebration, for they were being hunted as well. The Wyld Runners,

more used to nomadic life, survived easily, and managed to evade the

Inquisition's efforts. The Ehecatl and the Tlaloque, as well as the

Nahual and many Balam, lost many of their numbers before finding

shelter in the most secluded villages.

But the Tlaloque and the Ehecatl, along with the Sorcerers of

Quiet Gladness and the White Brotherhood, planned a counterstrike to

the domination of the Celestial Chorus' paradigm. Not wanting to

loose their magic-rich land, Garou and Mages summoned Gaia's Avatar

and shaped her in the form of the Virgin of Guadalupe and invested

her with the imagery of Tonantzin, the Mother. Her image was

"miraculously" imprinted in the ayate (a sort of cape) of the young

indian Juan Diego at mount Tepeyac, a once sacred place for

Tonantzin. As it fell within their paradigm, the Celestial Chorus

could do nothing but accept her, and since then, She has been

Mexico's patron saint, performing miracles for her devout followers

and keeping the populace half Awake to the nature of Magick.

From Europe began to come the other Traditions, as well as other

Clans, who saw the New World as new cattle. The Order of Hermes was

the first to arrive, followed by Clan Tremere.

Fulcanelli, an alchimist of the Order of Hermes, created what

was to be known as the Cronos Device; as chronicled by modern

moviemaker Guillermo del Toro, this Talisman bestowed immortality and

a strange brand of vampirism, and was promptly hunted by the Kindred,

though never found.

The streets of Mexico City were haunted by the Llorona, the

Wraith of Malintzin, the Aztec wife of Hernan Cortes, who mourned the

death of her children, planting fear in the hearts of Spaniards and

indians alike.

_The War of Independence_

Solo le pido a Dios

que la guerra no me sea indiferente,

es un monstruo grande y pisa fuerte

toda la pobre inocencia de la gente.

/I only ask of God

/that war be not indifferent to me,

/it's a great monster and it trods heavily

/over all the people's poor innocence.

- Mexicanto, "Solo le pido a Dios"

Several Brujah had begun to stir the minds of the criollo

population, sons of Spaniards born in the New World that were banned

from administrative seats. This, in response to the recent domination

of the government of the New Spain by the Ventrue. An uneasy alliance

of Brujah, Gangrel and Nahual ignited the flame that was lit by the

Cry at Dolores, by Kinfolk priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. The bell

used to stir the populace was a Talisman crafted by knowing mages and

placed there at the secret prompting of Tlacaelel. The Bell of

Independence could Awaken people temporarily, so as to stir them into

rebellion.

Part of the success of the rag-tag insurgent army is due to the

involvement of the Eagle Knights, the Order had survived three

centuries of Spaniard domination, though much of their spirituality

was lost, they remained quite an effective group of mystical

warriors, using their abilities in favor of the independentists as

well as their superb discipline and strategy.

The Mictlan knew this war to be a step towards recovering the

land, and helped with surgical strikes to the royal army. The

Camarilla never noticed their intervention.

Tlacaelel, being at a severe political disadvantage for his

indian stock, did his best to stiffle his fellow Ventrue's support to

the Spaniards.

The war was joined by other Garou tribes that had followed their

Kinfolk: Silent Striders mainly, but Stargazers could be found too,

as well as a lone pack of Black Furies. The Ehecatl and Tlaloque

pleaded for support to the Wendigo and Uktena, but they were busy

enough by protecting their peoples from the white men, and didn't

join.

In the cities, Glass Walkers and Shadow Lords foresaw the

expeling of the Spaniards, and quickly changed sides, and urged their

Kinfolk to do the same.

The Order of Hermes saw the war as an opportunity to influence

greatly in a new government and began influencing the intellectuals,

so as to have the ruling party to belong to a Masonic lodge.

Dreamspeakers stayed out of it, though the Celestial Chorus tried to

lessen the damage to Church proprerty.

_Independent Mexico: a Century of Turmoil_

Mexicanos al grito de guerra

el acero aprestad y el bridon

y retiemble en sus centros la tierra

al sonoro rugir del canon

/Mexicans to the war cry

/make ready the steel and the bridle

/and may the center of the earth tremble

/with the thunderous roar of the cannon.

- Mexican National Hymn

The fledgling nation had achieved independence, but it didn't

achieve stability, many alliances were broken as Shadow Lord Kinfolk

Santa Anna named himself emperor. Nahual were outraged and forsook

the alliance, as well as the other Garou. The Brujah lost interest

and moved their efforts to the rest of Latin America.

The mexican government was torn in two factions: the Liberals

and the Conservatives, these later being largely vampires of Clan

Ventrue. It was this rip in the fabric of power that prevented Mexico

from taking a united stand against the U.S. intervention, a carefuly

conceived plan by the rising Technocracy.

The early Syndicate and Iteration X mages had known for long the

richness in oil of the northern mexican territory and, considering

that the unstable Mexico would not be able to exploit it properly,

concocted the gradual colonization of Texas by northamerican

citizens, who later revolted and gained support from the U.S. army.

This led to ferocious enconters between the Get of Fenris and some

Fianna with the Wyld Runners.

Finally, the U.S. army besieged and took Chapultepec Castle, and

bought about half of the Mexican territory by gunpoint. Only the

sacrifice of the young cadets prevented the nation's morale

breakdown; their brave and unselfish deaths gained them the name of

the Ni~os Heroes, the Children Heroes.

After the intervention, Mexico suffered from years of political

turmoil, as Liberals and Conservatives traded the presidency by

assasination.

The Technocracy had great plans for Mexico, and they used the

supernatural actors in the struggle to further its goals. The New

World Order allowed Benito Juarez, of the Balam's Pride, to ascend to

the presidency. Juarez was a wise man, but unknowingly began to build

the base of the Technocracy's power. His term is called the Reform,

for many of the laws were changed, taking away many privileges from

the Church and the rich. The Celestial Chorus suffered the final blow

as president Juarez expropriated Church lands and sold them to more

productive uses. These buyers were frequently rich Shadow Lords. The

Ventrue, in a last attempt to have things their way, tried to appoint

Maximiliano of Habsburg as emperor of Mexico, thus ushering a war

with France, which Mexico won despite the odds.

_The Porfiriat_

One of the heroes of the war with France was general Porfirio

Diaz, who became president for the second time in 1869, and never

left power until 1910.

Diaz was a New World Order puppet, he brought 'civilization' and

prosperity to the land, but only to the rich; the poor peasants

became poorer as the few privileges and rights the Reform gave them

were stripped away by new property laws. The Ventrue regained their

wealth, but they were competing with not few Shadow Lord land owners.

The Porfiriat is known by the Garou as a black period, where the

Weaver spun the Pattern Web tightly around the once Wyld dominated

land, and the tendrils of the Wyrm began to coil as the Industrial

Revolution fully arrived.

This encroachment of Weaver-Technocracy power led to the

strangest of alliances known: the Celestial Chorus and the Aztec

Mages Traditions. By keeping the populace of the smaller towns and

villages continually exposed to small time miracles by minor saints

and the existence of the Dreamspeaker shamans, as well as the Bete's

spirit magic, they kept vast areas free of the Technocracy's

Paradigm, and thus, diminishing the effects of Paradox.

_The Revolution_

Y si Adelita se fuera con otro

la seguiria por tierra y por mar

si por mar en un buque de guerra,

si por tierra, en un tren militar.

/And if Adelita ran away with another,

/I'd follow her over sea and over land,

/if over sea, in a warship,

/if over land, in a military train.

-"Adelita", popular Revolution song

Once again, unrest shook the base of political power, and civil

war exploded in 1910. This time, the vampiric influence was of a

larger scale; the Anarchs, tired of centuries of Camarilla rule,

wanted to bring it down to turn Mexico into an Anarch State. The

other supernaturals didn't become actively involved. The Garou and

the Nahual distrusted each other and stayed out of the fight, though

they didn't oppose their Kinfolk or Pride's wishes to join the "Bola"

as it was called. The Aztec Traditions did participate, mostly the

Sorcerers of Quiet Gladness, who went among the peasants-turned-

soldiers with healing and confort, as the White Brotherhood served as

the ideological base of many platoons. The Eagle Knights dispersed

themselves among the revolutionary divisions, again providing advice

and experience to their fellows' cause.

Wyld Runner Kinfolk Pancho Villa became the nightmare of both

Federal army and U.S. population, as he committed acts of brigandry

and escaped unharmed, though he did much towards the Revolution's

goal. Meanwhile, in the south, Emiliano Zapata of Balam's Pride,

rallied the peasants with his motto: "Land and Liberty".

Ten years later the Anarchs were defeated in their second

revolution as the Sabbat struck mercilessly and took Mexico from both

Anarchs and Camarilla alike. This suited the plans of the

Technocracy, who were now resolved to keep Mexico from becoming the

center of Awakening that so many mages thought it would be.

Tlacaelel made a deal with the Sabbat, estranging himself from

the Camarilla. He declared his neutrality on the European Clans power

game, though he had begun to build a base of support himself so as to

weaken the Sabbat's hold on Mexico to allow for the other

supernaturals to expel them. He hoped to gain the Mictlan's help by

explaining himself, but he was nearly killed; so he began to nurture

the image of shameless traitor so as to manipulate by hate instead of

alliance.

Thinking to gain advantage of the unstability of the new

revolutionary government, the Celestial Chorists backed the Cristero

Uprising, a minor rebellious movement that supported the Chorus'

pradigm. They were swiftly crushed.

The presidency was dominated by the military since 1917, making

the New World Order the real managers of power, but they carefuly

made plans were delayed by president Lazaro Cardenas, the last

military president. He was a simple Sleeper, ignorant to the

supernatural, but he managed to twarth unknowingly many a vampire's

plans, as well as Technocracy maneuvers, such as in 1938, when, to

the utter surprise and outrage of the Syndicate, he nationalized the

oil companies.

The New World Order consolidated their power by strengthening

the National Revolutionary Party (PNR), which later changed it's name

to Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). From there, they

dominated politics by altering the elections by magick in their

favor. Since Cardenas' rule, however, the influence of the Sabbat

became stronger, as all the branches of government began a spiral of

corruption and infamy. The Garou were aware of this, but they could

do very little against the encroaching forces of the Wyrm.

The Syndicate then proceeded to keep Mexico under it's

stranglehold. It's rivalry with the NWO prevented the economy from

sanitizing itself, and many of the blunders of the NWO and the

Syndicate's strategies sank Mexico's economy.

Meanwhile, several discoveries where being made; two would shape

the supernatural map in a manner that none could foresee. First, the

discovery of the Great Temple ruins and the Coyolxauhqui stone, wich

placed Mexico City under outsider Garou scrutiny, and strengthened

the importance of the Glass Walker and Bone Gnawer Tribes within the

mexican shapeshifters politics. Second, and most dangerous, the

disappearance of certain mummies from the Guanajuato museum shortly

after their unearthing; it was never mentioned in the media, but

several bodies were discovered in an alley, completely drained of

blood. Clan Huitzilopochlti was awake.

Also, the arrival of a young woman trained by the Akashic

Brotherhood would begin an event of cosmic trascendence: the

Awakening of Mexico and it's guardians, the ancient volcanoes

Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl

TO BE CONTINUED...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

1968: the Year of Awakening, when a powerful Mage ignites the

flames of the war of the supernaturals and deals a blow to the

Technocracy's Paradigm in Mexico.

1968: YEAR OF THE AWAKENING

NOTE: All this chapter is based upon "Regina: 2 de octubre no se

olvida" by Antonio Velasco Pi~a published by Jus.

_Regina, Queen of Mexico_

Nacio de una tormenta

en el sol de una noche el penultimo mes,

Fue de planeta en planeta

buscando agua potable.

Quizas buscando la vida,

buscando la muerte,

eso nunca se sabe.

/He was born of a storm

/in a night's sun in the one but last month.

/He went from planet to planet

/looking for potable water.

/Perhaps looking for life,

/perhaps looking for death,

/that is never known.

-Silvio Rodriguez, "Cancion del Elegido"

"Song of the Chosen One"

By the middle of the century, Mexico was now firmly in the

clutches of the Technocracy and the Sabbat. The Garou perceived that

they were losing their land to Weaver and Wyrm. This offered no

possiblity of change or progress.

Unbeknownst to all, change was about to come in the person of

Regina Teuscher Perez, daughter of a German man seeking enlightenment

and an indian woman. Since her birth in 1948, she was destined to

greatness, possessing one of the strongest Avatars to walk the land.

She was born in the same village that once served as monastery of the

White Brotherhood, where Tlacaelel received the half of the Sign of

Quetzalcoatl.

Soon after, the Teuscher family traveled to Tibet, where members

of the Akashic Brotherhood began her training as a Mage. The girl

proved to excell in the Spheres of Mind, Prime and Spirit, pulling

some incredible effects without calling Paradox to herself. Her

education took a new turn when the New World Order arranged the

chinese invadasion of Tibet.

In the siege of Lhasa, Regina's parents were killed, and she was

adopted by the former prime minister, Tagdra Rimpoche. The lama, as

many of the Akashic Brotherhood, knew that Mexico was about to become

a great Node, and also knew that Regina was the one destined to

Awaken her country.

After years of learning, Regina returned to Mexico; her Avatar

fully Awakened and, strangely enough, Paradox continued to ignore

her, as if her mastery over Spirit and Prime could shrug it off.

Undetected by the Technocracy; she arrived to Teotihuacan.

_The Moon's Veil is lifted_

For centuries, the prehispanic mages had kept their knowledge

safe from the ravaging of time and the foreign Traditions, but only

four of them knew what had to be done in order to Awaken the land.

They were the Guardians of the Traditions.

In March 21st of 1968, they waited at the foot of the Pyramid of

the Moon in Teotihuacan, and began to climb from each of the four

sides. Their Avatars' presence was enough to reactivate the Pyramid,

which was really a huge Talisman. They knew, though, that only the

one destined to do so could fully operate the Pyramid and direct the

huge amounts of Quintessence. That one was Regina, the reincarnation

of Emperor Cuauhtemoc and of Citlalmina.

Regina succesfully operated the Talisman, thus beginning the

Awakening of Mexico.

The Pyramid of the Moon was built by command of Quetzalcoatl to

work as a router of negative energy. The toltecs used the Pyramid to

lift the Moon's Veil; that is, to dispel the illusions cast by

mundane life to trick the Avatar from Ascension.

When it began to operate for the first time since the Conquest,

the effects were felt by the entire World of Darkness.

For a period of six months, the Pyramid worked against all

illusions; several Avatars Awakened, and the Sleepers were somehow

aware that there was something beyond their knowledge. The vampires

found that Disciplines like Presence, Dominate, Auspex and

Obfuscation worked awkwardly and there began a worlwide vampire hunt

by some zealots. Garou found that the Delirium no longer acted upon

homids, and the Wraiths rejoiced that the Fog no longer clouded their

loved ones' sight.

Mind magick was harder to enact, and powers like the Phantasm

Arcanos and Dreamspeak Gift were shrugged off with ease. Paradox no

longer haunted the Mages.

The Gauntlet dropped dangerously, and the Technocracy began to

take desperate measures.

The mundane population, their minds no longer clouded, could see

what they were subject of, and began rebelling. In France and the

U.S., there were student manifestations that were brutally repressed

by a panicking New World Order who was already hard pressed as people

of China and Checoslovaquia questioned communism.

But it was in Mexico that the true Awakening was to take place;

Regina was waiting for the right conditions for the enacting of a

ritual that would Awaken the spirits of the guardian volcanoes of

Mexico: Popocatepetl, the Warrior, and Izztacihuatl, the Sleeping

Woman.

_The student movement_

Por mi raza hablara el espiritu.

/Through my race will the spirit speak.

-Motto of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)

In a Wyrm corrupted establishment, only the students had the

courage to rise in protest. All the Awakened witnessed in surprise as

the mundane youths questioned the way society worked.

The whole student's movement began as a fight between high

school students against one of the government-sponsored gangs known

as "porros", in charge of keeping the students quiet. The brutal

response by the police triggered the bottled up resentment of the

mexican people, and signs of discontent could be felt all across the

city.

The Sabbat was worried; fearing the discontent to be the

beginnings of a Camarilla ploy to retake the land and began exerting

it's political influences to crush the students.

But the Mictlan, long dormant, knew what was happening and

pooled their own resources to stop the usurper Kindred. The

government was thus paralyzed as the students defeated time after

time the riot squads, with a little help from Glass Walkers and Bone

Gnawers.

When the army violated university autonomy by blowing up the

doors of the Colegio de San Ildefonso (killing several teenagers in

the process), the UNAM dean leadered a march towards the Zocalo, the

heart of the city and country.

The Technocracy knew that a large concentration of angry and

focused people could very well Awaken the country, so it staged an

ambush to exterminate the manifestants. But Regina was there and,

after the dean asked for her and her group to form a human barrier to

keep the people from walking into the trap, she disbanded the

paramilitary group known as the "Halcones" (falcons) and kept the

manifestants from being slaughtered.

The Celestines seemed to take notice, and a rain fell where no

cloud was present. It was Quintessence-rich, and served to clean the

souls of those under it of any trace of Wyrm-taint. Several Men In

Black deserted to join the movement, and many Black Spiral Dancers

looked for acceptance among their long lost brother Tribes.

By means of military ties, the Guardians extracted a promise

from president Diaz Ordaz to allow the next three large

manifestations in the Zocalo.

Thus the Awakening began.

_Awakening the Guardians_

La mujer dormida debe dar a luz.

/The sleeping woman must give birth.

- Ayocuan.

The first part of the Awakening ritual was enacted succesfully;

a huge crowd marched following, unconsciously, the sacred route the

Aztecs once followed to reach Tenochtitlan.

From the sacred forest of Chapultepec, Regina joined the crowd

and, upon reaching the Zocalo, climbed to the towers of the Cathedral

and rang a specific bell, the sound of which resonated in the bars of

the Chorus Chamber below, producing an imperceptible sound that

shaped the enormous quantity of Quintessence provided by the

gathering, prompting the volcanoes to Awaken.

Before the second part was enacted, the Sabbat tried to corrupt

the ritual. By having the government beaurocrats gather at the Zocalo

in support of president Diaz, the vampires sought to desecrate a

ritual they didn't understand. The hapless workers, though, were also

free of the Moon's Veil, and recognized their status of "lambs",

being herded without consideration to their dignity. When cheers were

expected, only "baa"'s were heard.

The second part of the ritual consisted of silence. At the

spontaneous prompting of students to their leaders, a second march

was organized, the famous Silent March. Regina and her growing group

of acolytes leadered more than half-a-million people walking in utter

silence. In a second attempt to spoil the ritual, a group of

criminals was hired to harass and attack the manifestants, but

Regina's power was evident, and some of the criminals even joined the

march.

The ritual was complete; and Popocatepetl was Awake. The

Sleeping Woman, though, was still sleeping. And Regina realized that

a second ritual was in order to restablish the balance once broken by

Tlacaelel when he replaced the Moon worship by the Sun.

She found that, as a ley line connected Chapultepec forest with

the Zocalo in a "male" axis, so another line connected mount Tepeyac,

home of the Virgin of Guadalupe, with Tlatelolco, the place where

Emperor Cuauhtemoc had mounted his last stand against the Spaniards.

This was the "female" axis, the one that would Awaken Iztaccihuatl.

September 21st arrived, and with it, the Pyramid of the Moon

ceased to function, plunging humanity into the pit of illusions it

used to dwell in. The student's movement died down, the mexican

people soon uncomprehending the reason behind it. As the Paradigm

began to reinsert itself, people began to forget the wondrous sights

they'd seen during those six months. The Sabbat and the Technocracy,

each in it's own, separate way, knew that danger had passed and that

it was time to destroy the upstarts.

Regina knew what was to be; she gathered her acolytes for the

final ritual, and prepared to die.

_The Massacre of Tlatelolco_

2 de Octubre no se olvida / October 2nd is not forgotten

-graffitti in Mexico City.

October 2nd will always be a dark stain in Mexico's history; the

Sabbat, their power restored, was resolved to end the student matter

once and for all. The New World Order found out the source of the

magickal upheaval, Regina and her followers and, for the first time,

Technocracy and Sabbat acted in unison.

A gathering was scheduled to take place in the Plaza de las Tres

Culturas in Tlatelolco on October 2nd, to be followed by a march of

protest. Regina hoped that the crowd would be on its way when she and

400 of her followers arrived at the ancient altar in the plaza,

waiting to be sacrificed so their collected Avatars restored the

balance and Iztaccihuatl could wake up.

It was not to be. The army, unknowing of the dark plan it was

part of, sealed all exits to the plaza but one. Their orders were to

herd the protesters to that exit and disperse them after a few

arrests. But a second unit was ordered to shoot at the soldiers from

the roofs. The sinister ploy worked perfectly; the soldiers, thinking

themselves under attack as they saw their commander fall, shooted to

kill. The snipers shooted at the crowd and the agents of the

Tecnocracy shooted at Regina and her acolytes.

A massacre ensued, panic struck and to this date, no one knows

the exact number of innocent people that died that fateful day. When

night fell, the Mictlan was enraged of the Sabbat's daring; many of

the dying were Embraced and the ranks of the Mictlan were engrossed

by vampires full of rage against the Sabbat.

The Aztec Traditions and Tribes, as well as the Eagle Knights

lost many of their Elders, who had wished to join in the sacrifice.

The Olimpiads began later, the Technocracy conveniently covered up

the story, much to the frustration of the supernatural community.

But the massacre orchestrated by the Technocracy and the Sabbat

was the spark that lit the fuse; the White Brotherhood, the Sorcerers

of Quiet Gladness and the Nightspawn; the Ehecatl, the Tlaloque, the

Wyld Runners and the Nahual; the Calpulli of the Mictlan; the Eagle

Knights; their allies among the Dreamspeakers, Verbena, Balam,

Uktena, Brujah and Gangrel; they all understood that the call had

sounded clear and true.

A war for Awakening had begun.

Mexico was the Battleground.

Mexico is a magick rich land, and those who know of it relish in it. Powerful ley lines join powerful nodes. The Technocracy's Paradigm is not as strong as in other parts of the western world, causing less paradox when doing magick away from a city (for every paradox gained, substract one point per roll; paradox backlash needs an extra success).

Akashic Brotherhood.- Of all the greater Traditions, the Akashic Brothers are the most aware of Mexico's potential. The Dalai ama did visit the country a while ago. They have many acolytes in the cities as well as in parts of the countryside. The goal of the mexican AB chantries is to prepare the people for Mexico's finalAwakening.

 

Celestial Chorus.- Their Paradigm is strong in small rural towns and they are still influential in cities like Monterrey. They actively oppose the actions of the Cultists of Ecstasy, and the Chorists tend to be tighter in opinion than in other parts of the world. They are embittered that they once had Mexico and lost it to the Technocracy. It's rumored that a roge Chorist is the mastermind behind the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.

 

Cult of Ecstasy.- They thrive. Most of them go to the mountains for a good session of hallucinogenic herbs. They are popular in university environments. They tend to hover around the subcultures of Mexico City, spawning several musical events and movements.

- Dreamspeakers.- They were here before the Spaniards came, they

are the strongest Tradition outside the cities. Some of them use

pseudo-Christian paradigms and foci, but they are distinctively

Dreamspeakers. They have a strong relation with the spirits of the

land, and some are migrating to Mexico City in order to assist the

spirits of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. They have no central

chantry, but rather several minor ones across the Sierra Madre.

- Euthanatos.- Their influence shows more in a general ideology

than in political matters. Via culture and magick, the Euthanatos

have bred into the people of Mexico a strange attitude towards Death.

A mixture of bravado, acceptance and disrespect, mexicans are less

afraid of death than many peoples of the world. It's not an actual

worship, but the Euthanatos are content with the people's acceptance

that Death is inevitable and funerals an ocassion for rejoice.

- Order of Hermes.- The first Tradition to cross the sea and

settle, mexican Hermetists are as uptight as their foreign fellows.

Most of them are of true Spaniard heritage, though a number of

mestizos have been accepted gradually. Once they held the rein of

political power against the Celestial Chorus, but the Technocracy

ousted both of them, so they will sometimes ally. They never leave

the cities, and are stronger in those with marked colonial

architecture like Zacatecas and San Luis Potosi.

- Sons of Ether.- They have prospered since having settled labs

here. Most of them are more akin to Virtual Adepts, altering

Technocracy inventions for their own use (no cable company can come

up with a codification that a mexican electronic buff can't break).

Some of their research has been stolen by the Technocracy, like color

TV, invented by Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena, a Son of Ether with

interest in telecommunications. They distribute evenly in Mexico City

and Monterrey, though lone Sons can be found in every city and large

town. Mexican Sons of Ether don't dabble too much in the pseudo-

science of their fellows; rather they like to build things using

their intuition.

- Verbena.- They have very little presence, but a variant exists

in the south jungles, using the indian paradigm instead of the druid-

wiccan stuff. They have a central chantry in Oaxaca, where stands the

Tree of Santa Maria del Tule, an ancient ahuehuete with a 36 meter

circumference and thought to be more than 1000 years old.

- Virtual Adepts.- Not very abundant, since Mexico's state of

technology has yet to develop to suit the VA's tastes. But as the

Internet expands, their numbers are quickly growing. Most of them

live in Mexico City, though they possess a large chantry in

Monterrey, where they tap into the Technocracy's Quintessence

reservoirs unnoticed.

- Orphans.- As everywhere, no one knows the number of Orphans,

but the Traditions believe that their number exploded since 1968,

when several Avatars Awakened unguided by a Tradition Mentor. The

Hollow One's attittude is slowly filtering to the mexican youths, who

gather at weekends in El Chopo, a flea market that provides the

members of subcultures such as goths, new agers, grunges and the like

of their parafernalia, books and music.

- White Brotherhood.- Dedicated to preserving the knowledge of

their ancestors, the White Brothers hide throughout the lands,

serving often as keepers of archaeological sites. Their main chantry

resides in the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia e Historia, where they

carefuly keep the memories of ancient times.

- Nightspawn.- Always low in numbers, these tricksters are well

hidden in the shadows of urban life; they have somehow strayed from

their original role of evil sorcerers to become magickal prancksters.

Of all the mexican Mages, they are the ones closer to Arcadia. They

revel in confusing all the high powers of the land. All Traditions

distrust them, as they are too close to becoming either Marauders or

Nephandi. No chantry is known to exist.

- Sorcerers of Quiet Gladness.- Healers all around, they have

strong ties with the Verbena, though they shun their blood practices.

Their are peaceful of demeanor, and can always be found helping

people in disasters along the Tlaloque Garou. They have a chantry

somewhere in the mountains, but it's too well hidden.

*The Technocracy*

- Iteration X.- They consider the whole country as a waste of

resources, this Convention can't understand why the people are scared

of technology. They have very small influence, but they have a large

chantry in Monterrey, in the Technological Institute and of Higher

Studies of Monterrey (ITESM), where they recruit promising acolytes.

- New World Order.- They have enjoyed power since day one.

Mexico's government has been their most succesful experiment. They

boast to have created the "perfect dictatorship". The NWO is behind

the ruling party, and haven't had any qualms in preserving them in

power by pulling the strings to change elections in their favor.

- Progenitors.- They share Iteration X's opinion; they are

disgusted by the people's consistent belief in paralel "medicine"

like curanderos and new age pseudoscience. Even the upper class holds

evident beliefs and practices.

- Syndicate.- Despite the NWO's boasts, it's the Syndicate who

really holds the reins of the populace, they keep most of the

population near poverty with succesive and devastating crises and

devaluations. Their most succesful pet project is Televisa, the

monopolistic media corporation that squashes creativity through

mediocre programming and obviously false information. Televisa is

still monitored by the NWO though, as both Conventions cooperate to

make mind controling messages.

- The Nephandi.- The comings and goings of the Gauntlet during

history has allowed a number of Nephandi to settle in Mexico,

infiltrating the government by masquerading as Sleepers. They have

built a large Labyrinth below Mexico City (as in Chaos Factor), and

are waiting for the right time to pierce the Gauntlet and enter the

world.

* Vampires

The Sabbat controls the country with an iron fist, with brutal

tactics to discourage Camarilla and Anarch intrusion, such as the

Matamoros ritual killings, where the ghouls of invading Setites where

sacrificed and their Sires diablerized to teach a lesson. Their power

has a crack, though: the Mictlan. Athough they have managed to locate

a few Mictlan havens, the Sabbat has been unable to reach them except

when they want to be reached. As the Sabbat rules from the large

cities, the Mictlan rules from the countryside and small towns.

- The Sabbat.- Ruled by Melinda Galbraith (Nicholas' idea), the

Sabbat has large influences in the government, which has allowed them

to fully control the land. Mexico City is very dangerous at night if

you stray from the Free Zones, areas where the Sabbat has decided to

leave alone, like the Zocalo and the Ciudad Universitaria (One is the

protectorate of a Nahual Archpriest, the other home of the largest

sept of Glass Walkers).

- The Mictlan.- Ruling from the shadows, the Mictlan does

everything within their reach to hinder the Sabbat, they have

contacts of their own, and never hesitate to use them whenever

possible. There are towns where their pressence is known and

accepted, as they have become the town's protectors in exchange of

blood. The Mictlan is divided in Calpullis, bloodlines of the

original founder, that follow different philosophies. They deny to be

part of the Kindred line and have been branded heretics by the

Sabbat. The Mictlan doesn't believe in Caine as the vampire

progenitor, but in Mictlantecuhtli, the God of Death. Whatever the

truth may be, the Mictlan Calpullis sport similar powers and

Disciplines as the foreign Clans, though their blood _does_ taste

strange to diablerists. The oldest Mictlan vampire is Mictlaxochitl,

Tlatoani of Calpulli Mictlantecuhtli and supposedly daughter of the

Gods of Death, she is the equivalent of a fourth generation vampire,

as are the rest of the Tlatoanis. The Mictlan has always been small,

smaller since the Conquest, when two of the Calpullis where

destroyed. Hence, their power is limited and haven't been able to

pose a real threat to the Sabbat. The reason behind this is that the

Council of Tlatoanis must approve the Embracing of any Mictlan

vampire, judging the person for her worthiness and strength of

spirit. Their passive stand is being shaked by the younger vampires;

as most were the victims of the 1968 massacre, they cry for revenge

and open war.

- Clan Huitzilopochtli.- Once member of the Inner Council of the

Mictlan, Calpulli Huitzilopochtli became Clan Huitzilopochtli when

their Tlatoani went mad and power hungry (you may treat this as

Shaitan replacing the original Huitzilopochtli). They became a strong

force in the Aztec nation, and thus the more evident; this caused the

Inquisition to go after them, passing by the other Calpullis. Most

went into Torpor, but they are slowly awakening, though

Huitzilopochtli is nowhere to be found. The oldest Huitzilopochtli

vampires have joined the Sabbat.

- Tlacaelel.- He was a ghoul of the mad Huitzilopochtli, until

he realized his mistake and opened the path for the foreign

supernaturals. When the Camarilla arrived, he was Embraced by the

Ventrue, though his influence during the Colonial years was minimum

due to him being indian. He has lived his undeath as he lived his

life: as the power behind the throne. He has plotted for and against

every faction in the country, and secretly helped the Sabbat to climb

into power, pulling strings that were evident only to his keen

strategist mind. He has an ongoing truce with the Sabbat (again,

Nicholas' authorship is noted here), allowing him to stay but

forbidden to create progeny. He is even now plotting their downfall,

manipulating the other supernatural's hate for his very name in order

to make a unified stand of the native vampires, werewolves and magi

against the Sabbat.

- The Camarilla.- They are slowly infiltrating from the north,

as has been noted in the unrest that characterizes this part of the

country. As the Sabbat is behind the ruling party (with the secret

permission of the Technocracy), the Ventrue of the Camarilla are

backing one of the opposition parties: the National Action Party

(PAN), the misterious death of some promising candidates is evidence

to the secret war between the sects.

* Changing Breeds

The Breeds seem to be stronger than other factions because of

the very nature of the country: a deep spirituality pervades the

hidden regions of the land and it filters to the most alienated

member of the urban classes. Though, compared to the strength of the

Sabbat and the Technocracy, they are fighting a losing war. The

Conquest stripped them of many of their caerns, and the rise of the

Technocracy-Weaver calcified many others. The savage onslaught of

Sabbat and Black Spiral Dancers has forced all Bete to live in

relative hiding, except those places where they are strong.

- Black Furies.- Very small; a single pack came and fought in

the War of Independence, and their Kinfolk are few and far between.

Those Furies living in Mexico act as ambassadors of their Tribe in

local septs. Foreign Furies are given permission to travel throughout

the country in search of Lost Cubs and Kinfolk. However, the scouting

parties serve also as treasure hunters, for the Furies know Mexico to

be the resting place of several strong fetishes. They have repeatedly

tried to steal the Coyolxauhqui stone, but the Keeper, a Nahual

Archpriest, has thwarted them every time. Should the mexican Garou

know of these raids, they would ban the Furies from their territory.

- Bone Gnawers.- They are very numerous and can be found in

every large city. They care for small caerns and have few septs of

their own. They welcome every squatter and have been known to back

property takeovers by poor and homeless people. They lead the Sept of

the Underways around a small caern in the Pino Suarez subway station,

caring for a circular altar dedicated to Ehecatl (with permission of

the Ehecatl as they don't desire to live so deep within the city).

- Children of Gaia.- Ever since they set foot in the land, they

fell in love with it. They support that Mexico is one of Gaia's

wonders, as it has an extremely wide range of ecosystems with their

according flora and fauna. They are behind the growing number of New

Age movements, such as the Warriors of the Rainbow, and several have

adopted the native Tribes' way of living without betraying their own

Tribe. They have joined the political struggle as one of their

Kinfolk was a presidential candidate in the 1994 elections for the

Green Ecologist Party.

- Fianna.- Only exist as visitors and are not very welcome, as

they fought the Wyld Runners during the U.S. intervention and have

continuously violated the border.

- Get of Fenris.- They are not only unwelcome; they are hated.

The news of a Get in mexican land is enough for the nearest sept to

begin a hunt.

- Glass Walkers.- They thrive in Mexico City, Guadalajara and

Monterrey, and are the leaders of some of the largest septs in the

country. They know that Mexico City is not only the largest, most

populated and most polluted city in the world but also the largest

Blight in the face of Gaia, but they know the original plans for

Teotihuacan and admired the complex engineering. Their goal is to

return the City to it's original purpose. The largest sept is the

Septa de la Raza y el Espiritu (Sept of the Race and the Spirit),

deep inside UNAM grounds and keeper of a caern opened by Regina.

Their influence in Monterrey is also very notable, a large number of

non-resident students of ITESM are Glass Walker Kinfolk, and some are

Glass Walkers themselves. A very small caern is maintained in the

basement of CETEC, the home of ITESM's Internet node, and is shared

with Virtual Adepts. They also possess a great number of stocks in

companies in both Mexico and Monterrey, many of them dealing with

imports and exports, which they use to keep in touch with their

foreign tribemates.

- Red Talons.- They have received the hardest hits in the war.

Wolf population in Mexico is almost null, and only the desperate

efforts of the Garou has kept them from extinction. In Mexico, the

emnitiy between the Talons and the Walkers is more bitter and more

likely to explode into fights, as the Talons feel a deep resentment

against anything related to the City. They specially hate those Garou

of Mexico City, continuously accusing them of Wyrm Taint.

- Shadow Lords.- Their influence has waned with the times, as

their feudal style of influence was ousted with the Revolution. They

still hold property in secluded regions where they rule as they are

used to: cold and cruel. They have several farms in Chiapas, this

being some of the secret causes of the Zapatista uprising, backed by

Balam and Nahual.

- Silver Fangs.- Long ago, they judged the land as unworthy of

their attention since the homids refused to have an emperor (even if

he was a Ventrue puppet). They have no power over the native Tribes

and the others ignore them.

- Silent Striders.- They have great interest in the workings of

Mexico's supernatural society; they have joined local septs and a few

mexican Striders have been born. They possess no sept or caern of

their own, though they friendly share those of the Wyld Runners, as

they often accompany them in their journeys and have even been

accepted by Wyld Runner packs.

- Stargazers.- As the Akashic Brotherhood, the Stargazers know

of Mexico's importance in the future, but they keep it to themselves,

for they know that their fellow Garou would not fully understand the

implications. There are a few mexican Stargazers, but most of them

have inmigrated, seeking to witness the Awakening of Mexico.

- Uktena.- As one of the Pure Ones, the Uktena dwelled here

since a long time ago, though they have lost influence to it's sister

Tribe, the Tlaloque. They have septs and caerns in the mountains, and

full contact with Dreamspeakers. They seldom dare to venture into the

jungles, the protectorate of Bastet and Mokole.

- Wendigo.- Very few and restricting themselves to the northern

deserts. As the Wendigo represent the norhtern nomadic homid tribes,

they have little territory in Mexico, thoug they maintain

communication with the Ehecatl.

- Ehecatl.- They splintered from the Wendigo when they replaced

the Wendigo for Quetzalcoatl as a Totem. They are not warriors, but

scholars, and have dedicated themselves to the education of the lower

classes. They are allied with the White Brotherhood and are leaders

of the Sept of the Ancestor's Glory in Teotihuacan. (More details in

the Ehecatl Tribepost).

- Tlaloque.- They sought other uses for magic, and thus

separated from the Uktena as Tlaloc accepted them; they are healer and

caretakers, looking over the health of the land as well as that of

its inhabitants. They are allied with the Sorcerers of Quiet Gladness

and leaders of the Sept of the Gods' Care in Chapultepec Park (More

detail in the Tlaloque Tribepost).

- Wyld Runners.- Travelers, explorers and messengers, they

differ with the Silent Striders in the idea that all journeys should

have an end. They have a caern in Real de Catorce, shared with

Cultists of Ecstasy, another in the ruins of Cuicuilco in Mexico City

and one near the Zone of Silence in the north.

- Black Spiral Dancers.- Living in a Hive under Mexico City,

they spread Wyrm Taint and occasionally raid the caerns they know.

They have placed Banes and Fomori within the mexican government. One

of the largest Pits is Laguna Verde, the only nuclear energy plant in

the country, where they leak radiation outside.

- Balam.- Keepers of the mayan regions, the Balam fiercely

defend their protectorate against _anything_ that dares come close.

They have few alliances with the White Brotherhood, the only homids

they tend to respect as they are followers of Kukulkan, the maya's

name for Quetzalcoatl. The Ehecatl Tribe is treated in a talk-first-

kill-later-if-necessary manner; other Garou are rejected. They have

chided their Prides into the Zapatista rebellion, though they didn't

organize it. They see it as a opportunity to expel the Shadow Lord

landlords.

- Mokole.- They keep to themselves in the mayan regions and

ruins. One of them has the shape of a feathered serpent, though the

authenticity of his claim to be Quetzalcoatl-Kukulkan is yet to be

proven. The White Brotherhood ignore him as they know Quetzalcoatl

_had_ to be a Mage.

- Nuwisha.- If these tricksters ever had a home, it probably was

the Zone of Silence, a freakish area with heavy Wyld presence. It got

it's name because all radio signals disappear and a strange

atmosphere floats. Actually, it's an Anchorhead, though the Nuwisha

won't tell. From here they pop in and out of the Umbra as the

Gauntlet around here is 1. Wyrm spirits and Nephandi have been unable

to appropriate this extremeley valuable place as it is protected by a

host (_very_ large host) of Wyld spirits as well as by the Nuwisha.

They have friednly relations with the Wyld Runners, and sometimes

they let them use the Zone.

- Nahual.- Distrusted by every Bete because of their dark

inclinations, these werejaguars are a shadowy lot. Garou believe them

to be traitors to Gaia, as they embraced Tezcatlipoca. They are

thaumaturgists and necromancers, and they are rumored to have

mastered the Wraith Arcanos of Castigate. They have contacts with the

Mictlan, both the vampiric organization and the Far Shore with that

name. One of their Archpriests has his den at the Museo del Templo

mayor, right over the ruins of the Great Temple, where he custodies

the Coyolxauhqui stone. (For details, see the Nahual Tribepost).

* Wraiths

The Fog in Mexico is weaker, and the Shroud is one point lower,

thanks to the mexicans attitude towards death. November 2nd is a big

day for the Restless, as it is Dia de Muertos; all Memoriam is

considered one point higher, and the Wraiths use this day to renew

their Pathos thanks to the remembrance of their loved ones.

- The Hierarchy.- Rules the accustomed Necropoli, the largest

being in the city of Guanajuato. Hierarchs are mostly the ghosts of

Spaniard conquerors, which has caused a great deal of trouble with

the wraiths of mestizos, criollos and indians who don't go to

Mictlan.

- The Heretics.- Mostly of the Catholic bent, their numbers were

engrossed in the Cristero uprising, though their influence is weak.

- The Renegades.- They are way too many for the Hierarchy's

taste, victims of abuse all the way down to history. The most

dangerous are Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, who somehow have

reformed their armies and continue the Revolution in the afterlife.

- The Far Shore of Mictlan.- Ruled by emperor Moctezuma

Xocoyotzin, the Mictlan receives the souls of the indians, though

it's Reapers have taken worthy mestizos like artists and scholars.

(Nicholas was doing a wonderful writeup on it when we last wrote to

each other, ask him for it).

An unaligned and completely misterious Wraith is La Llorona; she

must be very acomplished in Argos, since nobody seems to find her,

not even the Reapers of Mictlan. Her Keening is strong enough to

scare even the meanest Hierarch.

* The Eagle Knights

Survivors of the late Order, they have lost much of the original purpose of the Knighthood. However, they are still powerful Awakened warriors. Their goal now is to protect the mundanes from the ravages of the supernatural wars _and_ to destroy vampires, as they resent their founders' betrayal by the vampire rulers. They know Tlacaelel is alive and actively hunt for him. They have jobs like normal people, but always in a position that they can help their community.

TO BE CONTINUED... (HOPEFULY)

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I don't think I can finish chapter five, where the geography is portrayed, so I dropped several clues in the descriptions of Tribes, Clans and Traditions. If my account is renewed, next part is the important places and who rules them. After that, it's Rage Across Necropolis: Mexico City By Night: the Lake of the Moon's Navel :).

If not, goodbye to you all, I enjoyed all the discussions, IC postings, ideas... hell! I even enjoyed the flamewars! Keep up thework, it's people like you who enrich the World of Darkness with your own inner universe.

MEXICO CITY: THE LAKE OF THE MOON'S NAVEL

En el Lago del Ombligo de la Luna

casi siempre hay una respuesta;

solo hay que saber

cual es la pregunta correcta.

/In the Lake of the Moon's Navel

/there's almost always an answer;

/it's only needed to know

/what is the correct question.