Huitca Federation

The Huitca Federation (h-YOU-it-kah) was a nation on the Phagosian islands of Cuiciloa, Tonatiuh, Ocotlan, and Tepetl in the Phagosian Sea, the majority of Ummarnu, and a section of Syltör. It is named for the Huitca people, a native people of Rathnir who live on the Phagosian islands and make up the nation. The official language is Huitcan.

Its capital city, Tlahatl, was founded by the first Huitca people, and was previously the center of the Altepetl of Tlahatl, the city-state that became the Federation. Tlahatl as a city-state as was briefly a territory of the Valdreach Imperial Republic, and formerly held a seat in the nation's Circle of Speakers. Tlahatl as a city-state was also a founding member of the Vastallosi Alliance of Western Rathnir, and while the city didn't sign the treaty initially, it signed before the Alliance was officially proclaimed. The Huitca Federation was also a founding member of the Allium Alliance, alongside Bardonia and Niedea. Now they are a founding member of the Arium Alliance, with The Empire of Greater Syltör, Andorn, Carvay, and The Kingdom of Hälge.

Foundational Myth
The Foundational Myth tells the legend of the Founder, the first Tlatoani of the Altepetl of Tlahatl, and his quest to find a home for the Huitcan people.

Construction
Tlahatl's construction began when the founder carved out their cave in a small hill. From there, the Huitca people began work on their great temple, tearing down that original hill and building the Temple of the Huitca in its place. From there, the Huitca built the city center and the buildings of state. Right now, they are terraforming their island, constructing the canals and large roads that will soon define the identity of the city, renovating the buildings of state into various city service buildings, and constructing proper housing for all its residents.

Modern History and The Collapse
(Editors note: Previous iterations of this article was heavily pro-centari, with major sections discussing Centaris over the Federation history. I left in important historical facts and removed most praise for the province and Centari history in favor of a holistic history of Huitca)

The Death Of The Huitcan Identity & the Rise of Alaar, Centaris, & Volandia
Before modern Huitcan history, the Federation was known for its global political influence. Before this time, Huitca was known for leveraging it's cultural and ethnic homogeny to maintain regime legitimacy, driving Huitcan cultural pride and Cardinalist beliefs to power the Federation. Internally, this legitimacy started to waver with the cultural renaissance of 3 groups: The 'advanced' Centari in the state of Octolon & Inari, The Niedene Volandi in Volandia, and the traditionalist Alaari in the state of Talawa. With the establishment of a cultural foundation for these 3 groups, they directly challenged the legitimacy provided by the cultural homogeny. Quickly, the 3 areas saw massive boosts in population, with cities like Aequalis seeing 100 members at some point, Volandia a stable population, and Alaar with 63 citizens at its height. With this population boom, the idea of being 'Huitcan' quickly fell out of favor, with many people willing to convert to the ways of the respective culture. For those in North Huitca, they opted to be secular state, living with the ideas of liberty and freedom. The southern provinces however embraced a traditionalist culture, practicing a variety of religions like Zentivar or Stomir. Regardless of their beliefs, each culture questioned the ideals of "being Huitcan" and in a way cleansed (for lack of a better word) or appropriated Huitcan culture. To many of these societies, Huitcan was a failed identity and instead saw themselves as the ethnically superior group. This caused major cracks in the political legitimacy of the Federation, as slowly each state saw itself as autonomous figures independent from the federal government.

"States Can't Be International Political Actors"
With each state becoming more culturally and politically significant, classic Huitcan laws started to be questioned in desperate attempts to continue the unprecedented growth in the region. Specifically, the law that "States Can't Be International Political Actors". To many of the leaders of these provinces (Gem, Waren, Necro), this law hampers their growth, as they could not legally created trade deals, negotiate benefits for their provinces, or even gain allies overseas outside Ummarnu. To them, this law symbolized the possibility of breaking free from the Federation, gaining more autonomy in the process. As this started to happen, the idea of states and the federal government started to blur. Before long, Centaris was making political & trade deals with other nations independently (most notably Ryzan, a controversial relation due to membership in the Arium Alliance with Bardonia), Alaar with states like Frosmyre & The Hands mercenary group (This is important later), and Volandia with Solisios (Note: Waren might need to check the specific relations). With the varying political connections and resource deals, this gave rise to varying resource and political distribution in the Federation, with most politics and resources being concentrated in Centaris. This caused a large shift in focus from the entire Federation to Centaris. As a result, southern states (most notably Talawa, Adaen, and Volandia) all believed they were being robbed of federal attention and resources, stunting their growth just to flatline. This argument has been given many names but this article will refer to it as "The South-North Resource Divide". With the resources potentially being divided, Centaris making political connections, and the constantly changing geopolitical landscape, the Huitca Federation lost the emphasis on "Huitca" and instead emphasized "The Federation", as each state was starting to gain a more autonomy.

The First Coup
While the events of first two sections were occurring, the Federation saw the coronation of its second Tlatoani after the ascension of Nyk'los: Quauhtli Tizoc. Quauhtli, a Bardonian at birth, took pride the Huitcan culture, ultimately being one of the last few Cardinalists. At the beginning of his term as Tlatoani, he promised that he wanted to see a cultural revival of Huitca, ultimately meshing the 3 dominant cultures with Huitca. To do this, he hosted the corination at the Vinyyad Palace in Alaar and a large tour of Huitca, visiting each province to discuss their cultural identity and how we all are bound together by being related to Huitcans. These rhetoric led many of the cultural leaders (now state leaders) to dislike Sumo's rule, as it interfered with the autonomy let out of Pandora's Box. This all came to a boiling point when rogue Huitcan Warriors (roughly affiliated with groups like The Hands and the Huitcan Astlii of Defense) went bandit hunting (fun fact: this is the first documented use of "The Gank" battle tactic), ultimately critically injuring numerous members of Ulfaeng.

With Sumo's reputation at an all time low, members of the Astli of Defence (Huitca's military) decided to act. Lily Prism, formerly the 8th & 10th Cihuacotal, coup'd the government; set on removing Sumo from power. Sumo began massing his forces on the 13th of December, 2021. The cries of war were about to be heard throughout the world. However Sumo, seeing that the no longer respected him as Tlatoani, abdicated, instilling Lily as the 3rd Tlatoani. BUT, Lily then left Huitca formerly on the 25th of December, appointing Sumo back to the throne as the 4th Tlatoani. It reduced the power of the Tlatoani to an all time low, empowering the states to form their own governments. It also added other noble houses (Alai & Warendrop, followed shortly by Centari & Emendari).

''This whole situation actually started due to some rogue Huitcan warriors angering a mercenary group known as Ulfaeng. Ulfaeng ordered Sumo to banish Lily, Wondered, James, & Endmxn from the federation. Everyone basically then thought that Sumo had no spine, so they rebelled creating the Southern Dune Pact between the states of Volandia, Talawa, Quia'jal, & Oceanta. It worked in ousting Sumo from power. Centaris (Largest state at the time) remained neutral.''

The Second Coup
After Sumo got back on the throne for the second time, he wanted to give it his all. Though, he pretty much acted the exact same way he did the first time 'round. Rigging elections, disrespecting the hoxi's, ete. It got to a point where everyone had enough and began plotting a second coup against Sumo. The Tecalli Order was founded in the Southern dunes of Huitca. Some notable members included Gem, Endmxn, James, Untitled, Waren, & more. However, no fighting occurred as Sumo "folded and dipped" according to Necro. There was an attempt to have some RP war, but it was all derailed at this point and Gem was instilled as the 5th Tlatoani. With the drastically changing geopolitical climate and growing cultural differences in the Federation, they would be the ones to seal the fate of Huitca, once and for all.

The Culture War and "Resource Distribution"
While the waves settled down and life returned to normal, it seemed like Huitca was saved. Gem, who was heavily favoured amongst the people at the time, had high hopes for restoring the federation to its former cultural and political glory as a respected world power. Many of the different provinces such as Volandia, Centaris, and Talawa (Alay Alaari post Federation) experiences a small growth in population, resources, and political power. This is about the time that most in old Huitca consider Cardinalism and the way of the "Old Huitcan" to die.

Rex was actually put in as regent, once again ousting Necro from federal power. At this point, it became clear that the Centari were becoming unwelcome in federal affairs, so they began pouring more efforts into focusing on Centaris and Centaris alone.

While Endmxn and Albsi are attempting to build Huitca's infrastructure and get it back on track to developing the interior, things are moving at lightning speed in the government. Gem rewrites the constitution, and creates two bodies - the Olochitli and the Tlahama. The Tlahama would hold mainstream domain over the nation.

After a while, it became apparent that the oligarchy that almost destroyed the nation in the past, had only taken on a new title. The people were on edge, law after law and action after action only furthered the deceit in the populous. In May, Terminus Emendari (Endmxn), was elected the 18th Cihuacoatl of the Huitca Federation; though some consider him to be the final head of state to do good for the people. His term was filled with constant disapproval from the Tlahama despite him and Albsi working around the clock on developing infrastructure.

Final Blow
As the month of June crawled along, Huitca began to drop as Jamesspyro was elected the final Cihuacotal of the Huitca Federation. The aforementioned divide between the South and the North started to worsen. It was revealed that many foreign entities were staring at Huitca, waiting for the command of the Tlatoani to invade. Members of the Tlahama (save for Gem) were doing their best to preserve the Federation, though that ship had sailed a long time ago, and many began to give up. It has been confirmed that Gem was using James to destroy and cause chaos to Huitca. He began to spread word of the potential and imminent collapse of the Federation. Soon enough, the general populus was put on high alert; and many areas were mobilizing for war. Before the continent could be split into numerous different states each warring with each other for influence, Gem Alai gave Uneasy, King of Alda, tlatoani so

Governing Structure
The nation's head of state is a monarch known as a Tlatoani (Emperor). The current ruling dynasty is an unbroken line allegedly going all the way back to the founder himself. The Tlatoani serves as both the political and religious head of the Huitca people. This monarch traditionally appointed an assistant to run day-to-day affairs, known as the Cihuacoatl (Prime Minister). Now, however, the Cihuacoatl is elected by the Grand Assembly in a popular vote. The Tlatoani and the Cihuacoatl share their duties in running the city, although the Tlatoani still outranks the Cihuacoatl. The Tlatoani and the Cihuacoatl are required to report their activities to the city citizens for scrutiny, and Grand Assembly meetings are held often in Tlahatl so that the heads of the nation can hear the grievances of the people. The Grand Assembly is the name for the legislative body of the Huitca Federation, its name is derived from the fact that it is a grand assembly of all citizens of the nation. Certain positions are also elected into office by the Grand Assembly, to manage other aspects of the city, like economics, religion, and warfare. The citizens of the nation are currently creating a constitution, in order to cement this structure.

Final Leadership
 * Tlatoani: Gem Alai
 * Crown Prince: Necro Mercellus
 * 17th and current Cihuacoatl: Mett Centari
 * 12th and current cabinet: Chief James (warrior); Chief Endmxn (development); Chief Warendrop (diplomat); Chief Ava (councilor);

Settlements

 * Phagosian Islands
 * Tlahatl (capital)
 * Aequalis
 * Erenova
 * Mistwatch
 * Drinomia
 * Dande Land
 * New Fernheim
 * Tepetl
 * Vont
 * Yama Inari historical site (seceded)
 * Drinomia
 * Funtei-Shrine
 * Sturmfels


 * Ummarnu
 * Adaen
 * Advent
 * Al Kharid
 * Alaar
 * Aroxizaun
 * Bridge Town
 * Cuetzpallee
 * Dailag
 * Elkanfeldt
 * Farafin
 * Fortaleza
 * Huecoatl
 * Ildaréa
 * Menaphos
 * Mianna-Valentia
 * New Awm
 * New Sandburg
 * Oria
 * Pikulia
 * Quagero City
 * Regnum
 * Seaso
 * Vineyyad
 * Xalipetl
 * Xipitl


 * Syltor
 * Sash-Anushir
 * Novum Winery
 * Traebar

Culture
The Huitca people excel at the practices of commerce and diplomacy, using their position as a bridge between the East and West to their advantage. The nation's people are also architecture enthusiasts and terraforming masters, performing their work masterfully as they transform a wild forest into a sprawling city-scape. The capital Tlahatl's buildings are mainly constructed from sandstone and terracotta, the preferred materials of the Huitca people, which are imported from mainland Ummarnu. Meanwhile, the forts on the island Ocotlan are constructed mainly of cobblestone. The Huitca people are friendly, and are always welcoming of new citizens who wish to immigrate to their growing city. The Huitca prefer peaceful negotiations, but are not afraid of combat. They value glory a lot, and they value heroic stories to pass on to future generations. They often collect artifacts from wars and large events to display in their capital.

The Huitca are as rich in tradition as they are in culture. As a symbol of their values of loyalty and honor, and in tribute to their Tlatoani, who descends from the Tizoc dynasty, Huitca always wear their shield with their cities' banner on their side. Such shields are also given to foreign dignitaries as a symbol of this loyalty and honor. The Huitca celebrate Founding Day on the 3rd of each month, to celebrate their land and the founding of their great city. On this day, Huitca party, drink and dance the night away, before sacrificing a cow in honor of the god Cualitzin, the guardian of the the land and the overworld, before midnight. On the twentieth of each month, Huitca celebrate their Independence Day, celebrating the day the Altepetl of Tlahatl was declared, and independence from the VIR was achieved. They party in the streets and sacrifice a sheep to the city patron god Tlahatepa. The Federation also holds elections on the 20th of each month to elect a new Cihuacoatl and new chiefs of state into office.

Religion
The Huitca people are peace-loving folks similarly to many of the other cities in Nyk'los's direction, but they are not afraid of battle. The Huitca have long followed the Cardinalist religion. Followers of this religion worship the four main deities, guardians of the cardinal directions and the realms of the universe. As part of their faith, followers are expected to perform ritual acts in honor of the Gods. If one of the Gods gets angry at the disloyalty of the people, the god may abandon their duties as guardian, destroying the sacred balance of the directions and throwing the world into chaos. Such acts include the sacrifice of a Cuahuacapra to the god Cualitzin on Founding Day, breeding of sheep to the god Nyk'los on Independence Day, sacrifice of pigs to the god Xoalcoatl before a long trip through his Underworld realm, and a volunteer human sacrifice to the god Meclahua on the eve of battle.

Literature
The Huitca Federation has a small collection of books documenting its unusual ecosystem, as well as Huitca myths and values. The first book written in Tlahatl was "Tlahatl's Fauna" by Juan Chicoyolloani. This body of work was facilitated by the People's Publishing Company, a state-owned publishing house dedicated to promoting Huitca culture and fostering literacy among its people, but after the closure of the PPC in February 2021, all Huitca literature falls under the ownership of the Huitca Federation Government, and is managed by the Chief Of Finance.