Xisheng: Difference between revisions

[[File:Máscara_de_Xiuhtecuhtli_Cultura_Azteza-Mixteca_Ars_Summum.JPG|thumb|Jade mask worn by third Varshani Potentate, Vresidot Shaggath who reinstated blood sacrifices at the Fane of Buruso]]

The schism in the [[Ixa'Taka]]n empire did not go unnoticed by [[Varshan]], only a few years later it started incursions into the former's southernmost territories as far as the Mountains of the Sun. At first these territorial intrusions involved only a few hundred men at any one time and were either ignored or thrown back easily enough. By the 1200's [[Varshan]] began to openly attack the Ajaw settlements that paid tribute to Ixa'Taka during its [[The Hunt (Varshan)|the Hunts]], prompting harsher responses. An army commanded by a nephew of the Umatz Janab I pushed the invaders out and then invaded north [[Varshan]] for five months before being annihilated in battle by the Zurg's royal army. The following century would see a pattern of territorial encroachment by [[Varshan]] and temporary alliances by [[Chimoche]] and [[Ixa'Taka]] to push back on these advances. By 1230 all the lands south of the Mountains of the Sun had been lost to [[Varshan]] and in 1245 the Ixa'Takans sealed a marriage alliance with the Zurg whereby they became a tributary state and adopted [[Arzalism]]. By abandoning their wartime alliance with [[Chimoche]] they also got to achieve a historical revenge against them for their multiple rebellions, Ixa'Takan troops played an important role in the Varshani subjugation of [[Chimoche]].  

The [[Varshan]] Zurgs decided to appoint high caste noblemen from [[Anzo]] as potentates over both [[Chimoche]] and [[Ixa'Taka]] to oversee their kings, observe that Arzalism was practiced and tribute delivered on time. This period of history is known as the Varshani Potentate and it is characterized by local historians as unusually harsh and bleak. The potentates were often fanatically religious and looked down on the locals as lacking zeal in their Arzalist devotions. A great deal of resources were poured into building new temples and the [[Blood Fane of Buruso]] was said to glow red at night due to all the blood shed on its steps on the orders of the Potentates. The seeds of rebellion against the Potentate came in 1581 when the 13th Potentate, Kangar Dun Talmoc, ordered the destruction of the temples of the local deity Tlaloc, a local god of rain and bountiful weather worshipped as an aspect of the Arzalist Rain God. The forceful destruction of his shrines incensed both the commoners and nobles of [[Ixa'Taka]] and [[Chimoche]]. A low level revolt with sporadic murders of Varshani soldiers and the harassment of Arzalist priests began as a result of this action. This morphed into a full fledged uprising when the Potentate Kangar Dun Talmoc and several Anzo dignataries were attacked and killed by an angry mob in the central plaza of Rixis, an event possibly organized by the Ixa'Takan Umatz himself.

The following conflict was named in the annals of [[Varshan]] as the War of Serrated Teeth, a bitter conflict that raged for decades and is an example of a preindustrial population engaging in something reminiscent of total war. The priesthoods of the Old Gods of [[Ixa'Taka]] and [[Chimoche]] whipped their peoples into a religious fervor to expel the occupiers and destroy the Potentate. The animosity against [[Varshan]] was so great that soon the Potentate and his apparatus had to flee the great cities of the region and head south, too many of the officials and priests employed by the Potentate were being targeted and murdered by regular people who then simply melted back into the population. Kangar Dun Talmoc's successor, the 14th Potentate Razoxtin Zun Malat immediately requested the support of the Zurg to put down the popular rebellion. Underestimating the seriousness of the situation and with favorable omens of victory from the priesthood, only a small Varshani army was deployed. Harassed all the way through their march in Ajaw region, the [[Varshan]]is were ambushed and destroyed by an [[Ixa'Taka]]n army shortly after crossing the Mountains of the Sun; the dead were decapitated and their skulls piled up in grisly towers as a grim warning. The War of Serrated Teeth went on for thirty years throughout various phases and intensity, at one point [[Varshan]] had reconquered most of the territory until civil strife and plague back in the interior forced them to withdraw; it was never able to fully restore the Potentate before the arrival of [[Daxia]].

[[Daxian people|Daxian]] influence on the local cultures of Xisheng has been significant. The modern use of the Daxian language among the Ixa'Takan, Chimor, Ajaw and Nuun groups has become widespread, in detriment of their original native languages. Language proficiency in their native language stands at 26% for the Nuun, 31% for Ajaw's, 44% for Ixa'Takans and 69% for the Chimor. The use of Daxian naming conventions has also increased sharply, with many non-Daxians using Daxian personal names.