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Hello, about a month ago I wrote a post detailing some of my ideas for a prospective Age of Mythology 2. People seemed to like it well enough so I thought I would expand on the concept with posts for each individual civilization, as I think they could work. The first here is for the Aztecs/Mesoamericans. Refer back to my other post for some more context!
First off, I recognize It would be a bit awkward if there were two separate civilizations starting with 'Meso', but I feel like it would be better not to make them too specific since its drawing upon a wide mythological tradition. Still, maybe we could just call them Aztecs and call it a day even though this makes things a bit too specific and makes it difficult to include things like Mayan mythology. The Mesoamericans could provide some unique quirks, they don't have access to cavalry (similar to AOE2 and 3), which has to be made up for with effective archers and flexible infantry, however this being an AOM game, myth units could help fill in the cavalry gap to some degree.
Mesoamerican religion and society is quite well recorded by the Spanish and native intellectuals of Mexico after the conquest, even today there are some remnants. We know quite a lot about things such as the Aztec creation myths or the Mayan hero twins, and have some detail on they way they conceptualized their religion and how they practiced it, so I've tried to make this concept reasonably well informed by real history and mythology, in addition to the requirements of gameplay. Generally the Mesoamericans are orientated towards aggressive offense, but their defensive structures can be surprisingly good and offer something to fall back on if the enemy exploits your lack of cavalry.
Mesoamericans do not have access to the animal pen, so they may as well kill and eat any herdable animals as they find them (IRL, livestock wasn't really an important part of Mesoamerican cuisine, they only really had Turkeys and Dogs), However Mesoamerican villagers can build a special farm in shallow water called a Chinampa, these can offer considerable boosts to food production, but Mesoamerican non-Chinampa farms are a bit less efficient to offset this. Most maps have ponds and such to be exploited by Mesoamericans for this purpose, and Tlaloc players have special bonuses as we will see. Chinampas are smaller than regular farms, being about the size of a house, this size is a huge boon since villagers work them more efficiently and they can take up less space but produce more food. A good Mesoamerican player will need to know how to effectively exploit this unique farming quirk to get the most out of the civilization.
A market scene for the Aztecs, perhaps indicating what villagers would look like
Favor mechanic: Enemy units can be 'captured', military units will have a 100% chance to capture enemy villagers, and a 30% chance to capture an enemy military unit at the point in combat when such units would normally die. Instead a captive unit under the player's control is spawned, who can be sent back to be sacrificed at the temple, giving you a bunch of favor every time this occurs. The captive unit works like a herdable, and can be retaken by the enemy if you don't keep an eye on them, they can then send them over to whatever production building they come from originally to restore them back to their original state at a reduced fee. Aztec players can use the sacrifice mechanic with herdable animals too at the start of the game to get an infusion of favor if they need it, or even their own units, albeit with less overall favor generated.
Hero mechanic: Similar to Atlanteans, individual units can be uplifted at the players choice to turn them into heroes for a fee, with corresponding stat buffs.
Scout mechanic: Start with two quimichtin scouts, they don't have as much speed and LOS as other scouts so two can make up for these shortcomings. These scouts can be trained again at the town center, and in Heroic age you gain access to a special technology that allows you to disguise quimichtin as an enemy villager.
This image from the Codex Mendoza shows various ranks of the Aztec army with promotion based on captives
An Eagle Warrior
Human units:
As mentioned, Mesoamericans have no cavalry so rely entirely on various kinds of archers and infantry. They tend to be flexible and can occupy several different roles. Similar to AOE3 there's a division between expendable units available from early ages and elite, expensive ones from later. This division is highlighted by where they are produced, 'expendable' lower quality military units are trained in the Tēlpochcalli (the house of youth), this building is available from Classical age and works similar to the barracks. 'Elite' military units are available from the Calmecac, a larger and more expensive building available from the Heroic age. The Calmecac (house of lineage) also acts as a fortress, having lots of health and firing arrows at enemies, making it crucial for defense. Units are individually upgraded, like the Egyptians.
-Cuextecatl: A unit with a spear-thrower, they launch javelins at the enemy from a range. Compared to other archers they have noticeably less range, but the heavy javelin does more damage than your average arrow. Additionally, Cuextecatl units move fast for foot archers and have good pierce armor, so they are useful for raiding and have an attack bonus against archers. Available from Classical age, Tēlpochcalli.
-Tequihua: Bowmen for the Mesoamericans, based on what the Aztecs called bowmen. Fairly weak compared to other archers, they are only really useful against infantry, though they can move quite fast and fire fairly quickly. Available from Classical age, Tēlpochcalli.
-Tlamanih: Workhorse infantry for the Mesoamericans. Tlamanih are unexceptional in most ways, equipped with a mace they mostly counter cavalry and are fairly easy to cheaply mass up. They do have an attack bonus against buildings though, which can be useful early on. Available from Classical age, Tēlpochcalli.
-Jaguar Warrior: An elite infantry unit armed with a Macuahuitl, Jaguar warriors excel in melee combat and are powerful against both cavalry and other infantry. They are fairly slow and expensive, but as front line troops are quite formidable. Available from Heroic age, Calmecac.
-Eagle Warrior: Similarly elite as the Jaguar warrior, eagles are armed with obsidian-tipped spears and move very quickly for an infantry unit. They are resistant to ranged attack and are good at raiding and countering archers and siege, particularly gold expensive though. Available from Heroic age, Calmecac.
-Otomi Archer: Similar to the archer knight in AOE3, these are highly expensive archers that have excellent range and a high attack, their flaming arrows are particularly good at tearing down buildings. Available from Heroic age, Calmecac.
-Shorn One: The most powerful human units available to the Aztecs, Shorn ones have an extremely high attack bonus against buildings and a fair bit of pierce armor to help further. They can occupy a similar role to the Atlantean Destroyer where they destroy buildings in the role of siege, but they are also formidable in frontline combat, with a small area of effect attack. Very slow though, and only available from Mythic age, Calmecac.
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Aztecs do not have a blacksmith like other civs, a reflection of the lack of metal used for practical purposes in their society, instead the Aztecs have a building called a Tlamatini University (I am aware that this is slightly twisting what Tlamatini were historically but its a gameplay consideration rather than rigorous history). This is the center for a variety of upgrades for things like unit power and buildings, for example its in the university that you research upgrades other civs research in the tower (i.e. Building LOS) or wall upgrades, its also where you find the masonry and architecture upgrades instead of the TC. You also research weapon and armor upgrades here, unlike all other civs Aztecs have different names for them, though this is purely aesthetic and its the same effect, instead of Copper->Bronze->Iron its Chert->Flint->Obsidian (for weapons), Fabric->Quilted->Reinforced Cotton (for armor) and Hide->Bamboo->Hardwood (for shields). Various mythological improvements are also researched here. This is also where siege units are created, which tend to be less useful compared to other civs:
-Mantlet: This is a big movable wooden shield that protects two soldiers from incoming fire. They attack buildings by throwing flaming debris from a range, the shield gives them very high arrow resistance but they die quickly to melee units and they don't excel at actually destroying buildings when compared against other siege units. Available from Heroic age.
-Siege Ladder: A reinforced ladder (based on this image), needs setup time (like the AOE2 Trebuchet) and as a result exists in a packed, movable state and an unpacked attack state. When unpacked against a wall or building it will deal damage over time, in addition units can be moved over the wall through the tower before the wall is even destroyed. Available from Mythic age.
The Aztecs dock is fairly standard, having things like fishing ships and transport ships, but their warships are weaker. To make up for this they are cheaper and take up less population space, going for a quantity over quality strategy. They have Arrow Canoe (arrow ship) Siege Canoe (siege ship) and War Canoe (melee ship).
Major Gods
The Major gods are based on what I would consider to be the ones that seem to have been particularly important within Mesoamerican religion but also lend themselves to defined gameplay roles. Because of this I have decided upon Huitzilopochtli, the patron god of the Mexica and god of the Sun, Tlaloc, the god of rain, and Quetzalcoatl, the great feathered serpent that appears throughout Mesoamerica as a very popular deity.
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Huitzilopochtli
As the patron deity of the Mexica Huitzilopochtli was associated with them specifically and wasn't of particular note before the Aztec empire started growing. With the Aztecs as the most powerful polity in the region Huitzilopochtli quickly became very prominent, he took on the role as a sun god and war god, and sacrifice was offered to him to ensure the steady running of the cosmos. To reflect this Huitzilopochtli is the most aggression orientated Mesoamerican god.
-Under Huitzilopochtli, hero units slowly regenerate health and also gain permanent stat increases for every unit that they capture, resulting in faster, tougher and more powerful units if you take favorable battles. This encourages the player to cultivate an elite vanguard of heroes in battle.
-Upgrading units to heroes is cheaper
-Military buildings work 20% faster
-Ranged units attack 15% faster
God Power: Resurrection. Brings back up to three units from the dead at full health, but must be cast where they were killed in the last minute.
Technology: Garland war. Increases the chance that hero units capture captives in battle to 60%.
Huitzilopochtli's wonder is the Great Pyramid Huēyi Teōcalli, from Tenochtitlan.
Something I didn't mention in my original post is that in this game each individual Major God has its own AI personality when played against, similar to AOE3's AI avatars of people like Napoleon for the French. It just gives the AI a bit more personality when the player is up against them, for Age of Mythology 2 the AI personalities are imagined as famous mythical or semi-mythical rulers from each culture's mythology and history that bring their own commentary and preferred method of playing to the table. In this case Huitzilopochtli's AI personality is Tlacaelel, a shadowy figure in the history of the Aztec empire who was said to have acted as a major general and politician and who was a key force in reforming Aztec society to be much more militaristic and reforming Aztec religious practices to be very heavily fixated on human sacrifice, especially with regards to Huitzilopochtli. In game Tlacaelel is very aggressive but also well structured and tries to exploit early weaknesses with constant raiding and harassment from early ages.
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Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl was a popular god found throughout Mesoamerica, even far into the Mayan polities under the name Kukulkan. Elements of the feathered serpent seem to have been present all the way back to the Olmecs, but he seems to have become really prominent around the time of Teotihuacan, more than a thousand years before the Aztecs. In the actual mythology Quetzalcoatl has a long standing rivalry with Tezcatlipoca, and frequently has to rebuild earth and humanity after a series of recurring apocalypses. Quetzalcoatl's place in Mesoamerican worship is complex, but for our purposes I've decided to focus on the protector and creative elements of Quetzalcoatl, and overall he offers a softer side to the Mesoamericans.
-Quetzalcoatl's main quirk is the ability to construct a unique building, the ball court. Available from the Archaic age, the ball court (based on the famous Mesoamerican Ball Game) allows you to assign idle military units to the court where they will play ball (and you can watch!), this will earn you favor and a trickle of other resources from Quetzalcoatl's grace. This is a good alternate way to earn favor and supplement your economy with spare military units, it can be especially useful in closed maps where early aggression is stifled where its harder to engage the enemy to capture captives.
-University technologies are 25% cheaper
-Trade units move 30% faster
-Walls and towers have 25% more hitpoints
God Power: Precious Serpent. While active all resource gathering will also add small amounts of other resources, ie, a villager that gathers 30 food from a farm will also gather 5 wood at the same time and drop them all off together. Can really help beef up you economy without significantly reshuffling villagers for a little while.
Technology: Quetzal feathers. Cutting down trees also sometimes grants you gold.
Quetzalcoatl's wonder is the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, at Teotihuacan.
The AI personality for Quetzalcoatl is Ce Acatl Topiltzin, a legendary ruler of the Toltecs (according to the Aztecs, who were huge fanboys to the Toltecs). He was said to be a great ruler of Tollan who ended human sacrifice and started a golden age, seeding many other communities around Mesoamerica. In game he is cautious, preferring to build up behind walls and towers and ensure a well organised defense before moving out with a late game army.
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Tlaloc
Being the supreme rain god for the Aztecs, Tlaloc was extremely important for the Aztec way of life, controlling the most basic ingredients for life and productivity. He was heavily associated with the water, including all things that lived within it, and acted as the third sun in mythology. Tlaloc was quite temperamental, and demanded sacrifice in exchange for his nourishment of the earth. The Mayans called him Chaac. He focuses on heavy agricultural productivity.
-For players who worship Tlaloc, all town centers they control automatically become surrounded with a patch of shallow water. This provides an excellent place to build Chinampas right next to TCs for drop off and defense and is massive boon to their food economy.
-Tlaloc players do not suffer a reduction in efficiency for non Chinampa farms, they operate at the same rate as the farms of other civilizations.
-Water units (including all ships and water myth units) are 15% cheaper.
God power: Downpour. Casts rain over your farms (not your enemies) considerably increasing work rate for a while.
Technology: Mount Tlaloc. Sacrifices also provide some food, in addition to favor.
Tlaloc's wonder is the observatory at Chichen Itza.
The AI personality for Tlaloc is Wak Chanil Ajaw (AKA, Lady Six Sky for all you Civ VI players), she was a notable Mayan queen from Naranjo in the 7th century. She has unusually militaristic associations for a queen. In game she goes in heavily for a huge boom economy and tries to springboard from that into a big push in the mid-game.
Minor Gods
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Xipe Totec
You have advanced to the Classical age through the sacrifice of Xipe Totec!
A crucial member of the Mesoamerican pantheon, Xipe Totec was notable for his ritualistic flaying of his skin, under which revealed a golden interior. This was considered a symbol of the way in which Maize loses its husks and connected him to death and rebirth through agriculture, with him sacrificing his flesh to provide humanity with food. He was one of the main creator gods and the Aztecs credited him with inventing warfare. Available to Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl.
Myth Unit: Yahui. Creatures from Mixtec mythology, they have reptilian features such as lizard tails, snake heads and turtle carapaces. Their claws and blades leave something to be desired when it comes to attack, but their turtle shell gives them very tough armor, making them very useful frontline meatshields, and when in tight groups their armor will be further buffed, similar to the Fenris Wolf Brood but with armor instead of attack and speed.
God power: Blood Serpents. A variation on the Egyptian serpents power, using this power will cause blood snakes to arise from corpses, friendly or hostile, killed in the last minute. They will fight the players enemies, but are not under their direct control. Not particularly powerful but can be very useful in turning around a fight in a pinch, especially where lots have already died.
Technologies:
Flayed one: Improves villager gather rates on farms by 15%.
Tlacaxipehualiztli: Military units train 25% faster.
Flesh of renewal: Sacrifices occasionally spawn random human soldiers.
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An Ahuitzotl, Chalchiutlicue's Myth unit
Chalchiutlicue
You have advanced to the Classical age under the care of Chalchiuitlicue!
One of the goddesses associated with Childbirth, Chalchiutlicue was also a water deity, like her husband Tlaloc, and particularly associated with bodies of water like seas, lakes and rivers. She also operated as the fourth sun, but apparently drowned the world with her bloody tears after Tezcatlipoca upset her. Available to Tlaloc and Huitzilopotchli.
Myth Unit: Ahuitzotl. An extremely speedy dog like creature with a glossy, spiky coat and a hand on the end of its tail, so fast they can actually move over water in addition to land. It can only move over the water, not attack, but it still gives it a useful ability to move almost anywhere you want. Its probably the fastest unit in the game and can be very useful for giving the Aztecs a cavalry substitute for raiding, but its health and attack aren't much to write home about.
God Power: Favored. Instantly convert up to 5 Human units to heroes (like Prometheus's Valor).
Technologies:
Lady of the Fourth Sun: Villagers gain more hitpoints and armor.
Skirt of Jade: Ships move 15% faster.
Stalker of the depths: Ahuitzotl attack and hitpoints improved, and they move even faster when traversing water.
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Xiuhtecuhtli
You have advanced to the Classical age through the warmth of Xiuhtecuhtli!
A god linked with fire. He had better associations than this implies, being seen as a force of life after death and warmth in the darkness. Turquoise was also heavily associated with Xiuhtecuhtli. Available to Huitzilopotchli and Quetzalcoatl.
Myth Unit: Xiuhcoatl: The 'Turquoise Serpent', this giant legendary snake was a spirit form of Xiuhtecuhtli said to be used by Huitzilopochtli as an Atlatl (spear thrower). As such it has a good long range attack, shooting fire at the enemy. Additionally, whenever it kills a unit blood serpents erupt from the corpse, damaging nearby units for a brief time. It has little health and armor though.
God Power: Weapons of the Sun. While active ranged units attack and especially range are considerably buffed, gaining up to 50% more reach and 25% more damage.
Technologies:
Divine Atlatl: Cuextecatl attack and range increased by 20%, movement speed by 15%.
Pochteca Guardian: All sources of gold income boosted by 10%, trade income boosted by 20%.
Light in the Darkness: Improves the hitpoints for ranged human units by 20%.
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A Quinametzin
Mictlāntēcutli
You have advanced to the Heroic age through the inevitability of Mictlāntēcutli!
The lord of the underworld in Aztec Mythology, with heavy associations with death. He attempted to dupe Quetzalcoatl when he went down to the underworld to retrieve the bones of the dead, when that failed he tripped up Quetzalcoatl and damaged the bones, hence why people have different sizes today. Available to Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc.
Myth unit: Quinametzin. A huge lumbering giant, these were said to have inhabited the world before humans. They have the ability to fling boulders from a distance. This attack has a slow reload time and bad accuracy but each boulder is highly damaging to any target it hits and has a small AOE. In addition it is effective against buildings, allowing the Quinametzin to occupy a role similar to a catapult in a pinch. This unit also has a large health pool, and vaguely resembles a giant ground sloth mixed with a mammoth, since the Aztecs interpreted bones of such giant extinct creatures as Quinametzin.
God Power: Darkness. When cast darkness shrouds the land, for your enemies this means a considerable reduction in line of sight for all units and buildings, with concurrent reduction in ranged buildings and units ranges and attack. Also blocks other god powers.
Technologies:
Shattered Bones: Melee units deal 25% more damage to buildings.
Death Lord: Eagle Warriors gain 25% more damage and health.
Windowless Palace: Siege ladders and Mantlets deal 20% more damage to buildings and siege ladders set up 30% faster.
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Cihuacōātl
You have advanced to the Heroic age under the protection of Cihuacōātl!
Also a goddess associated with Childbirth, but compared to Chalchiutlicue she was considerably more fearsome in her protection. She was said to have assisted Quetzalcoatl in reforming the human race after he retrieved their bones from the underworld for the fifth and current era. Available to Tlaloc and Huitzilopotchli.
Myth Unit: Cihuateteo. Dangerous spirits of women who had died in childbirth and helped the sun move across the sky, appear as ghostly specters with long claws. Being Ghosts their attacks completely ignore armor, making them potentially lethal against units that normally can feel safe behind their considerable hack armor, but also making units with high hitpoints better suited to deal with them. Cihuateteo also do not collide with friendly units and can move to the front lines to attack simultaneous to other melee units, but they have low health themselves to make up for this.
God Power: Five Days. Similar to the Ancestors power for Nephthys, this summons a number of Cihuateteo in an area of your choice for a minute before disappearing. This can be crucially good for beefing up you forces in an important fight.
Technologies:
Vengeful soul: Cihuateteo gain more attack and armor, also unlocks their ability to phase through friendly units.
Mother of the Lost: Your own units that die in battle will grant you some favor.
Mixcoatl's Amhimitl: Otomi Archers and Tequihua gain 25% more attack and 20% faster firing rate.
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Xolotl
You have advanced to the Heroic age through the guidance of Xolotl!
Xolotl was a dog deity, a sort of 'evil twin' to his brother Quetzalcoatl, he acted as a guide for souls through the underworld and presided over lightning, fire, twins, misfortune, monsters and sicknesses. He may have also had a relationship to the sun god Nanahuatzin. Available to Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopotchli.
Myth units: Were-Jaguar. As the name suggests, these beasts are half man half jaguar and frequently appear in the Mesoamerican mythos going all the way back to the Olmec. They are quite formidable with good health, damage and speed, and also possess a leap ability that allows them to jump into battle and deal extra damage. They are similar to the Egyptian Anubite in the first game, but more expensive and tougher, like the Ahuitzotl they can help make up for a lack of cavalry.
Axolotl: Based on the real life salamanders that were thought of highly by the Aztecs, as food and because of its associations with gods like Xolotl or Tlaloc. In this game the creature is monstrously large and powerful, one of the main aquatic units the Aztecs have access to, it also has an extremely powerful regenerative ability, undoing damage applied to it quickly, similar to the real life Axolotl.
God Power: Plague. When cast over enemy units this power causes the units in question to continually lose health for the duration of the power. Although it doesn't cause immediate death it can really mess with the enemy's strategy, for example villagers caught in the effect with always die after the allotted time if nothing is done, and military units severely weakened. The victim must try to scramble their healing options or garrison units inside buildings (which prevents health loss), either way it can be very destabilizing and allow for openings to exploit while the enemy is weak. Has a wide area of effect.
Monstrosity: Myth units are 15% cheaper and train 50% faster.
Xoloitzcuintle Psychopomp: Tlamanih gain 30% more hitpoints and 20% more attack.
Hero Twin: Adds a chance that two of any human units will be trained at no extra cost or population space.
Nagual: Were-Jaguar gains 20% faster movement speed and their leap attack deals twice as much damage.
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Tezcatlipoca
You have advanced to the Mythic age through the machinations of Tezcatlipoca!
An extremely important god in the Aztec pantheon, Tezcatlipoca was dangerous and clever, often coming into conflict with the likes of Quetzalcoatl and the force behind dramatic events like the destruction of previous eras of humanity, he also acted as the sun in the first era. He had a wide range of associations with things like the night, rulership and jaguars. His name means 'Smoking Mirror'. Available for Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc
Myth unit: Camazotz. Bat monsters of Mayan legend, these are giant bats, so they are flying units with the useful attributes that entails. Although they fly, the need to physically grapple with their adversaries to attack them, this means that they can be attacked by melee units while they engage in combat (and their victims can fight back). However, they have a powerful special ability where they will instantly kill human targets and replenish some of their health in the process (they are effectively giant vampire bats). They have high attack and ok health.
God power: Half Sun. When cast, the sky darkens and special 'Jaguars of Tezcatlipoca' appear close to all enemy town centers. They are more powerful than regular jaguars and do a lot of damage, the player does not control them directly but they are powerful and numerous enough that they can wreck the enemy's economy. Similar to Fimbulwinter, the power also blocks other powers from being cast.
Technologies:
Jaguar Lord Tepēyōllōtl: Jaguar warriors gain 20% higher attack and movement speed.
World destroyer: Recharge time and cost to use god powers reduced by the 25%.
Oneness of Ometeotl: Cost of all units in the game reduced by 10%.
Obsidian Mirror: Tēlpochcalli units train almost instantly.
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Cipactli
Tlaltecuhtli
You have advanced to the Mythic age upon the body of Tlaltecuhtli!
Tlaltecuhtli is a destructive primordial crocodile deity from which the world was said to have been constructed from their body after Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl defeated her (a bit like Ymir). Even in death Tlaltecuhtli demanded sacrifice in exchange for having provided humanity their world against her will. Available for Huitzilopotchli and Quetzalcoatl.
Myth units: Cueyatl: Giant frogs, they are slow, but have a dangerous ranged attack where they barf out blobs of poison, in addition to the damage of the projectile it applies a poison effect to enemies, and can be especially effective against large groups.
Cipactli Spawn: This is the other naval myth unit available to the Aztecs, a massive crocodile-frog-fish monstrosity that covered in mouths all over its joints. It has the ability to consume and destroy any land or sea unit instantly, unless its a hero (a bit like the Kraken) and high attack, though fairly low health compared to other aquatic myth units.
God power: Rain of Fire. A devastating inferno descends from the heavens, causing massive damage to buildings and units on the ground.
Technologies:
Corpse of the World: All extracted resources (farming, wood and gold mining) yield 10% more.
Ravenous Hunger: All myth units gain 25% more attack.
Primordial Ocean: Cipactli Spawn Gain 20% more hitpoints and a significant reduction in recharge time for its special ability.
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Cōātlīcue
You have advanced to the Mythic age under the nurture of Cōātlīcue!
The mother of Huitzilopotchli, the moon and the stars, her other children cut off her head when they found she was pregnant with Huitzilopotchli, but immediately after he sprang from her body and slaughtered them all. Has particularly bloody and violent imagery, even for the Aztecs. Available for Huitzilopotchli and Tlaloc.
Myth unit: Tzitzimitl. Large female skeleton warriors based on demonic star entities that fought the sun, They have the ability to cast darkness over the area in which they are fighting for a brief time. under this veil of darkness (similar to the fog of war but unable to be cleared even with units right in the middle, and only effecting your opponents) your enemy will have a much more difficult time seeing what is happening and reacting, they won't able to see most of your units properly or the surrounding terrain, which prevents them from targeting them directly and can allow you to make sneaky tactical decisions. With or without this ability Tzitizmitl are extremely powerful melee combatants.
God Power: Hummingbird Swarm. A cascade of hummingbirds descends over the battlefield, any units that have been killed in the last minute will be revived and any further units that are killed over the time the power lasts in the area allotted will instantly be resurrected at full health.
Technologies:
Cosmic Matriarch: Tzitizmitl gain more hitpoints and their cast darkness ability is longer lasting over a wider area.
Centzon Huitznahuas: Hero units receive considerable (30%) boosts to health and attack.
Coyolxāuhqui's head: Shorn Ones gain a 20% increase in attack and their area of effect attack is larger.
The Aztecs titan is represented as Tlaltecuhtli herself, being a supersized, much more dangerous version of the Cipactli Spawn unit that can move over land.
Thank you for reading, I plan to do more write ups for the other civ ideas I have had (next one will probably be Celts). Aztec mythology is very interesting but also quite confusing and honestly I was working off fairly undetailed information for this like Wikipedia, various Youtube videos and other stuff I could find on the internet (r/askhistorians is always a good place to look!), so I would imagine that there's a lot of information here that is controversial or misleading. Still, it was what I thought would be the best way to present things when you consider the nature of the game of Age of Mythology. I hope people don't mind the artwork I used, I'll try to find sources and credit if anybody wants them.
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/f7sw37r1vds51.png){kind=link}
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