Mictlan

Mictlan was a vast and prosperous jungle city and realm ruled by Ketzelkan, the Winged Serpent, who was revered as its God-King. It was part of the Sun Realm and was shaped by an earlier age before the Nightmare Spell and before Doom discovered the realm, when the Ash was shallower, Ash Nomads still traveled the desolate land, and figures such as Inti, Ketzelkan's brother had not yet created the asuras and Shatana the Traitor had not yet cast the veil upon the White Abyss.^[2]

To later generations, Mictlan had always seemed like a land of mighty warriors and Supreme monarchs who held Corruption at bay, but its history included the fall of Ash Nomads, the burning of the cities of the Pillar Bones, the growing power of the vermin of the Jungle, and the blooming of Nightmares that brought horrors from beyond the boundary of the Sun Realm, all of which framed ominous visions concerning the shattering of the Heart Bone, unnatural snow and white flame in the Jungle, and the eventual doom looming over Mictlan.^[2]

Mictlan was a powerful and warlike in the Sun Realm, composed of multiple Domains, including the Heart Bone, the Cage Bone, the Pillar Bone, the Cross Bone, and the shattered Skull, whose rulers answered the call of its most ferocious leader, Ketzelkan.^[3]

Its landscape included a dense Jungle that transformed into a network of rivers and waterfalls during the rains, making travel easier. Heart Lake was the central conflux of Mictlan, where all the rivers of the Heart Bone converged, and the Sun Temple at its center served as neutral territory for rulers to meet, hold council, or sue for peace.^[3]

Mictlan had always been engaged in constant warfare with Corruption and bore the sacred duty of preventing the Sun Killer's rebirth, producing countless heroes and Awakened capable of creating and wielding asuras and other sorceries. Despite its strength, Mictlan faced the looming threat of Doom, with its fortresses, armies, and thrones vulnerable to destruction under the encroaching forces of the Jungle and Nightmare Spell.^[3]

The rulers of Mictlan were a group of powerful and Supremes, each associated with a symbolic animal:^[3]

• the Winged Serpent (Ketzelkan)
• the Leopard
• the Ape
• the Hummingbird
• the Otter
• the Eagle
• the Eel (absent due to banishment into the darkness of Spinesea for her mother's crime^[3])

They hailed from all Domains of Mictlan, including the Heart Bone, the Cage Bone, the Pillar Bone, the Cross Bone, and the shattered Skull, assembling at Heart Lake to heed the call of its most ferocious ruler, Ketzelkan.^[3]

Ketzelkan led the largest Domain and commanded the strongest armies of asuras, while the other rulers also brought their own forces and unique abilities. The youngest ruler had been born after the Nightmare Spell, whereas the others had already ascended to their thrones with its aid.^[3]

Collectively, these rulers were recognized as the strongest and most fearsome warriors of the Sun Realm, tasked with defending Mictlan from Corruption, maintaining the Sun Killer's imprisonment, and wielding sorceries such as the creation of asuras to combat threats far greater than themselves. They convened at the neutral Temple of the Sun in Heart Lake, a sacred site where rulers met for council or peace, overseen by the ancient and imprisoned Fallen One, who had once raised Ketzelkan and his siblings to inherit the Sun Realm.^[3]

• Within Mictlan, the Sun Temple was known as the Vanishing Lake Citadel, a structure that Nephis had mostly destroyed during her battle against Moonveil.^[1]
• The Doom was the term used by this civilization to describe the Nightmare.^[1]
• Mictlan was associated with figures such as Ketzelkan, a Supreme who had inherited the lineage of the Sun God and possessed the Fire, and who was most likely the Cursed Tyrant, Condemnation, later slain by the King of Swords during the war.^[1]

• Tamar's Cohort Second Nightmare