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Description
This is my version / design of XOLOTL, a Mexica deity, and how he appears in my current personal story project, currently called "IXIPTLA" (nahuatl for "impersonator", refers to images, idols, representations of deities and also a category of sacrificial victims, usually war captives, which impersonated deities and lived luxurious lives in their last days before the sacrifice. This concept plays a major role in the story, but I can't reveal it yet). I've just loosely followed some of the god's actual iconography, and opted for a more sculpture oriented visual, because of his role in the story.

I hope you like it! If you did, don't forget to follow me on other "social" networks as well!
Behance | facebook | instagram | tumblr

XOLOTL (nahuatl for "beast", or "animal") is a recurring deity in the pre-hispanic Mexica / "Aztec" Cosmology, and likely in the world view of other nahua and "Mesoamerican" cultures.
Usually depicted as a dog ( Xoloitzcuintli, the name for the Mexican hairless dog breed), Xolotl is associated with lightning, death, the underworld, and also Venus as the Evening Star (in this position he's known as The Lord of the Evening Star). For a long time, and following previous traditions, the Mexica have domesticated different kinds of dogs . The Xoloitzcuintli, for example, were companions both in life and in the afterlife - in some levels of Mictlán, the underworld, the Tonalli (which can mean "heat of the sun", but also something like "fate" a specific kind of vital energy , could be translated as a "soul") of a dead person was helped by a dog, it's companion in life, to cross a river. It's very likely that some dogs were sacrificed alongside their human companions. The itzcuintli breed of dogs was also killed for food. There's another kind of dogs known by the Mexica, the itzcuintepoztli, who were described as dangerous and cunning wild dogs.

Xolotl's role in the underworld, however, isn't limited to being the patron of dogs: in the important tale about the creation of the Fifth Sun ("Nahui Ollin", our current time, and that of the pre-hispanic Mexica as well. The Mexica world view separates existence in different Sun Eras ruled by different suns, or gods that took the role of the sun. Each era had its own population, that ended in its' own catastrophic ways), Xolotl, alongside his brother Quetzalcoatl ("Feathered Serpent", one of the four "Tezcatlipocas", a god of culture, associated to the wind, the realm of Cihuatlampa in the West direction, but also Tlahuiztlampa in the East, as "Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli" - the Lord of the Morning Star. This popular deity derives from other ancient Mesoamerican traditions, the Feathered Serpent has been also known, worshiped and depicted by different Mayan cultures and the Olmecs as well) has been responsible for entering the perilous realm of Mictlán and returning with the bones of the people from the previous Era (Nahui Atl, the Fourth Sun, that ended with a catastrophic flood). They've crossed a series of tasks imposed by Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the dead, and after getting past them, they've sacrificed their own blood to give new life into the people.

In his iconography, especially in his depictions at the codices, Xolotl carries a conch known as the ehecailacozcatl ("wind jewel"), a symbol of wind (ehecatl) also used by his brother Quetzalcoatl. It's associated to the tale in which they descended into the underworld: one of the tasks which Mictlantecuhtli had them to do was to play a sound from a shell that had no holes. They had worms perforating holes into the shell so that they could play a sound, thus tricking the god of death.
Xolotl is also associated with the sentient individuals of the species of water salamanders known as Axolotl (which translates as "water creature"). In some accounts, it's said that he has disguised himself with red reeds on his ears and escaped to the waters when the Sun was looking for the other gods to sacrifice them (the Sun is fed by blood, and it only makes its way from East to West, thus allowing life, if it is offered life. This concept of sacrifice for the sake of new life is vital to Mexica cosmology. If the Sun isn't offered the vital energy from the others, then life wouldn't exist and catastrophe would happen. Of course this concept has been used politically, yet that's what religion truly is).
As the brother of Quetzalcoatl, Xolotl is also considered a patron of twins - several prehispanic cultures and traditions considered the birth of twins as an oddity. Besides that, Xolotl is also associated to deformities, monstrosities, sickness, and also thunder, regarded as "heavenly fire". There seems to be a connection between thunder and the birth of twins, reportedly in some pre-hispanic cultures throughout america, they said twins were born when the thunder divided a person in the mother's womb into two.
In the Tonalpohualli ("count of days" in nahuatl, a calendar consisting of twenty 13 day periods used by the Mexica. Not to confuse with another Mexica calendar, the 365 days xiuhpohualli), Xolotl rules over the day Ollin ("movement", represented by a sacrificial flint knife. It names our current sun era, and represent change through conflict or sacrifice) and the trecena (spanish name for the 13 day periods) 1 Cozcacuauhtli (vulture). The ruler of the day Itzcuintli ("dog") is Mictlantecuhtli, god of the dead - once more hinting the association of dogs with the underworld.

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ENGINEERS

In the story of IXIPTLA, the Xolotl is a deity whose original form is the "Nemontemi Stone" (Nemontemi, "hollow days" in nahuatl, refer to the last five days in the xiuhpohualli, a period when people didn't perform important activities because they were fearful a solar eclipse, and the possible collapse of the Fifth Sun was possible - it's said the Fifth Sun, our era, will end with earthquakes). The Nemontemi Stone is the first and most powerful crystal of the hidden element known as Cozauhqui. The Five hidden elements are special elements that can hide as common elements of the periodic table, but once activated - only by another previously activated piece of the same element - they feature their special properties. That means, every alchemist or dragon in the universe able to activate and use this element has or had a contact with a piece of it that, through history, may have been activated by the said element's first and more powerful crystal. In the case of the Cozauhqui element, it's the Nemontemi Stone, which awakened form is Xolotl. The Cozauhqui, also referred to as "The Gatherer Element", is known for its explosive properties.
Since the ancient times, in the universe of IXIPTLA, different individuals and communities of dragons have been able to use these hidden elements, and use crystals of these elements in their own organism not only to improve flight, breathing and physical abilities in general, but also to attain super powers, like for example creating an atmosphere over its own body (thus being able to travel space), or even establishing a network of physical control and influence over other creatures, thus establishing political alliances and exercising influence. This seemingly natural relation between dragons and the hidden elements may have been one of the factors which influenced their downfall as well. All the prime hidden element crystals have originated from the stone of an elder element, the "Ater Adamantis" (Black Diamond), that was forcefully taken from the head of the Serpent Apep, a creature dwelling within the Chaos Dimension, who was conquered by the eldest form of Hydros, the Elemental God of waters, and the bearer of the Trident, that has split the Ater Adamantis into the five crystals, thus giving origin to the five hidden elements. In an ancient time, which the peoples of AZTLÁN consider to be the First Sun Era, the dragons had been created out of the cooperation, design and intervention on nature by the elemental gods of water and wind - the later, known by some peoples from the plan of Helladeas as Aethyr , has been known by some peoples of Aztlán in different forms and names, from U Kux Kah ("Heart of the Sky" in K'iché Maya) to his latest incarnations, including Huitzilopochtli ("Hummingbird of the South", or alternatively "Left-Handed Hummingbird", the God of War, patron of Mexico, the ruler of the Fifth Sun, associated to the South direction) - even though, these peoples didn't know Huitzilopochtli elsewhere is a wind god (such attributes in particular are reserved to other deities, one of them, Kukulcan [a Maya name for Quetzalcoatl] an ancient enemy of the war god itself, from the same kin of Apep, the Quinames [Giants] which rivaled the Elemental Gods before the creation of several things that are today). The first dragon, however, is the incarnation of the Elemental God of Darkness, known as Tupaq (quechua for "noble"), or Erebos in Helladeas & Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent") in Aztlán, and later, by some peoples of Anahuac ("Land between the waters", name which the Aztecs used to refer to planet Earth, or at least the known regions of the "American" continent). Based on him, as well drawing inspiration from other kinds of creatures - the amphibian Tritons and the reptile Cuetzpalin (nahuatl for "lizard", they're natives to Aztlán and have lived in Anahuac during some eras), the dragons were powerful, promising creatures. But their features also dragged their race into disgrace and conflict, ultimately due to the power of the crystals. Eventually, the five crystals, studied by gods and mortals who reached a certain excellence, have been stolen by dragons that have conquered other realms in the galaxy, and eventually killed by other creatures envying their power. Such is the case of the Ismenian Dragon, who had the Nemontemi Stone on its own organism, before he was slain by Cadmus, a Chthonian Triton (Chthonian meaning underground, or under the earth, it's a category of tritons that lost the exoskeletal orichalcum conch which they used to possess, and have other odd tissue growing on its place, like extra limbs or tentacles). When Aethyr witnessed the assassination of his creation, he took the Nemontemi Stone with him, and left to his preferred realm, Aztlán, where he'd keep studying and modifying nature for his own will.

AWAKENING

Huitzilopochtli is a facet of the greater elemental god of wind (Ehecatl, or, as he prefer to call, "Motion" - Ollin), one that plays an important political role on Aztlán, and resurrect every time in new Ixiptla (impersonators, usually human, Cuetzpalin or other vertebrate hosts ritually sacrificed in order to become his new body - like other Cuetzpalin do). He's the creator of the Cuetzpalin, and therefore, their natural life cycle - including the Tonalcoatl (Tonal from the vital energy concept and Coatl from "snake"), first and last stage of a Cuetzpalin's life, after it hatches from the egg, like a snake, it becomes a part of the Cuetzpalin's brain when it develops a larger body, and ultimately splits from the body, like a reptile shedding its' skin, when the body dies. It keeps a Cuetzpalin's consciousness, memory and identities, and can live symbiotically with another vertebrate host. In this symbiosis, the Tonalcoatl establishes a telepathic link with the host, and also allows it the ability to transform its own body into a Cuetzpalin (or the closer it can get to a Cuetzpalin) at will, but only for some time, for if the ability is over used, it will lose its' consciousness to the Tonalcoatl. Similarly, if the host is fatally wounded, the Tonalcoatl can heal its wounds and take over the renewed body. The Cuetzpalin possess an amazing rate of regeneration and healing factor thanks to the substance known as Atl-Tachinolli which they posses in their blood - it's directly derived from the organism of the Quinames, U Kux Kah's ancient enemies, whose bodies and corpses have inspired him to create his greatest triumphs. Atl-Tlachinolli literally means "burning water", but metaphorically means "holy water", referring to blood, and is also a concept in the Mexica world view which translates as warfare or even holy war. It's the concept of sacrifice, self-sacrifice, combat and the deadly energy which moves the world, killing and dying to create new life and restart the cycle of life and death. In the IXIPTLA Mythos, it has originally been used to refer to the miraculous life substance of the Quinames, and later the Cuetzpalin's blood, but eventually, its' meaning has been lost, and became used to refer to any kind of blood. The Cuetzpalin, in this parasitic act of enlongating their life span at the expense of others, do like the Teteoh (gods) with their Ixiptla: they live forever, and continue their role as natural forces, at the expense of individuals who gave their lives to them, so they could keep giving life (by regulating the atmosphere, gravity, making sure the sun will rise) to all for the next generations. Surely, it may be convenient and sadistic as it sounds, but the abstract concept of nature, comparable to that of a deity, has no ethics at all.

While Huitzilopochtli may be one of the best known forms of this entity, because of his public role within the Aztec Confederation, and his direct contact to the Aztec leaders, it has other forms, like the Night Wind (Yohualli Ehecatl) and the jaguar-like Heart of the Mountain ( Tepeyollotl), guardians from towns and labs in the underworld realms of Aztlán, carved over the body of Cipactli, one of the oldest Quinames and U Kux Kah's greatest enemy, this immortal being is fated to hold the world of Aztlán on its back, growing from a giant tree and reaching the skies. It can heal every wound instantly, yet it suffers, chained tight in the unseen, swampy, misty and gloomy realms of the underworld. From its' organism, U Kux Kah has designed creatures that preceded the Cuetzpalin, and while its' suffering is revered by the populations above (that otherwise, wouldn't exist), it didn't choose this position, Cipactli isn't the life-giving earth of Aztlán out of it's free choice altruism. It's merely the unknown trophy of the arrogant wind god, who hides under the guise of a life-giving god, and keep bringing death, masked as hope for the next generations. That said, after Aethyr, one of U Kux Kah's faces, has returned from Helladeas, he had the stone guarded in Tlaxipuchicalco ("House of Penance"), a lab, or shrine, in the town of Apanoayan ("where one crosses the river"), carved out of one of Cipactli's spikes, it was crossed by a river of blood sprouting from the damaged scales of Cipactli's wounded right paw. Ancient humans lived there, and most of them, unlike the towns located on the upper regions, didn't fear or even tried to understand the gods, they didn't perform the rites, they didn't compose poems, their songs were inspired by their simple, yet harsh lives, and the gods pretty much ignored them. But one of them, wearing the skin of dead men and women like an ixiptla, was a studious man who observed the movement of the stars, the course of the water and the winds, who practiced agriculture, and studied patterns in nature. His name was Xipe Totec, and he felt like the locals didn't take his knowledge, or his art seriously. He only hoped he could achieve great deeds which could grasp the attention of the gods, but among those people, who only wanted to drink and party after a hunt, no, he wouldn't be noticed, he and his deeds would be overshadowed by their very presence. He roamed through the town's outskirts, he climbed the spiky mount Catcitepulz ("Mountain that speaks") and reached Tlaxipuchicalco, where he found the Nemontemi Stone, guarded by the Yohualli Ehecatl. It wasn't the shining golden brilliance of the stone that amazed him, it was its' apparent power, its' mystical origin, its' presence. That's when he had an insight.
Xipe Totec returned to Apanoayan, and called out to the multitude of people, he assembled them and spoke to them that they should follow him in a trip to Catcitepulz, where they should revere the gods and atone for their ways, for it would bring them good fortune in the days to come. Because the people were hypocritical as always, they believed a bureaucratic ceremony of minutes could compensate for a lifetime of bad deeds, like if the nature, the gods, could be deceived so easily, as if their judgment relied on something as superficial, so they decided to follow him, and cross the spiky mountain. It's said all followed, save for the children, who stood in the town. Eventually, Xipe Totec has reached Tlaxipichicalco before the crowd, and took the Nemontemi Stone for his own, he has set it in fire, and thrown from the mountain. When the blazing stone has reached the mountain's basement (that's also composed of Cozauhqui), it exploded, and caused a devastating earthquake which consumed all the victims climbing the mountain, all the people died, and Xipe, too, was going to die, when he witnessed, from the ashes, a dog-like entity rising. Xolotl has been fed, and finally, he had awaken. Xipe Totec was saved by the Night Wind, the voice of reason who spoke to him through the mountain, and for his "courage, penance, observations and valuable knowledge", has been turned into an immortal, and brought to the company of other gods in another town, on upper regions of Aztlán - the town of Youalahuan ("The Night Drinker", a reference to vampires that inhabited if). Yes, that's right, he's been noticed by the gods and rewarded because he caused a genocide, and by chance, discovered that the Nemontemi Stone actually has a life of its own. It was his original plan to return to Apanoayan and educate the children in his ways, but because the gods brought him above, he didn't return, and the children, without their parents and living in a ruined city bordering the wilderness, likely fell victim to nature in many forms, either predatory violence, disease, or hunger. As for Xolotl, he was awaken, and roamed the wilderness like an invincible, immortal beast whose body is made of this powerful stone. His presence has called the interest of another race that inhabits Cipactli's body and the bloody seas running from it: the dreaded Ahuitzotl, who seemed to know more about this new god than many other Aztecs.

COVENANT

The Ahuitzotl are non-human mammals that descend from the race known in Helladeas as Telkhines. In the ancient times, when it was known as Pelasgia, they were feared and brutal warriors and sorcerers, that also crafted weapons out of these hidden elements, using parts of Tritons in the proccess. Some of them have started to colonize Aztlán's underworld's sea after Tlaloc, the rain god, has arrived in the realm, coming from a distant land. With no Tritons in Aztlán, the "Ahuitzotl" ("Spiky Water Creature", a name which the Aztecs used to refer to the Tritons, but also to a wider variety of sea creatures, ultimately becoming the name of this kind) started to hunt wild Cuetzpalin, and use their Tonalcoatl in the fabrication of weapons known as Xiuhcoatl ("Fire Snake"), symbiotic, sentient creatures carved from the bizarre union of Tonalcoatl and hidden elements, these weapons turned warriors into one man armies. When this came to be known, by U Kux Kah's ixiptla, Huitzilopochtli ordered them to create the most powerful of the Xiuhcoatl for his own, and feared like the thunder, it became his prized possession.
Despite aware of the hidden elements because of foreigner traditions they kept, the Ahuitzotl still didn't know beforehand that the Nemontemi Stone itself is a living creature. The awakening of Xolotl is the first awakening of such an entity ever reported, and it has opened the possibility that other hidden element prime crystals indeed are dormant entities - what they are, in fact - adding a new level of ambition in the Ahuitzotl/Telkhine dark mentality.

For a long time, Xolotl roamed the underworld, feeding, killing, and causing havoc - the movement of his running paws tore apart the firmament, what called the attention of Tepeyollotl, that has planned to capture him, for study purposes. The Ahuitzotl, despite initially friendly towards Huitzilopochtli, were no allies to the Aztec Confederation, as they threatened every Cuetzpalin in the realm. The only way Xolotl could be captured and put back into the dormant shape of the Nemontemi Stone, however, was cooling down, and this, the Ahuitzotl have performed - employing other hidden elements - before the Aztec Confederation. Contacting and studying the dog entity, the Ahuitzotl discovered that even in the stone form, Xolotl can grant pacts with certain alchemists, if they perform a ritual with their own blood. This covenant, signed with blood over the stone, grants the magician the power to create an array of armors and weapons out of this specific element, and in turn, reveal and control other pieces of this element in the nearby environment. This amazing power, however, is reserved to a limited number of people, and for the entity Xolotl to forge more pacts, another one who has made the pact previously must be killed by the next one that want to perform it. With time, the Ahuitzotl started to create such pacts, and battle each other for this amazing power, causing havoc in the underworld, havoc that reached the upper realms of Aztlán, and troubled the gods. The Aztec Confederation, then, sent their ranks to recover the Nemontemi Stone, and keep the power for their own.
In the ensuing conflict, however, Xolotl has been awaken again, and from it they discovered the price of the entity's covenant: whenever the Nemontemi Stone is awaken into Xolotl (the first awakening needed a fiery ignition, another piece of Cozauhqui, and a genocide. All the others merely needed a certain heat), all the soldiers who made a pact with it fall unconscious, as if their souls left their bodies, and they shall remain this way - subject to outside phenomena, including hunger - unless Xolotl is reverted back into the Stone (by being frozen). An entity grows in power if those who made a pact keep killing others, it gets fed by blood of the slain, and this mutual benefit between the entity and the one who made the pact lasts until the one who made the pact dies. Eventually, Xolotl and later the entities of other dormant prime crystals, after awakened (all through genocides across history), instigated conflict between its' "covenants". Xolotl's apparent main interest is feeding and sleeping, but that means a lot of suffering has to be done. Xolotl can't die, and won't, even if it doesn't feed for long, it will at best get bored.
The Aztec Confederation reclaimed the stone, and it was guarded by Tepeyollotl in the Teotlatlauhco island, a desert island on Cipactli's right side, from where a volcano, the Popocatepetl ("Smoking Mountain"), erupts sometimes. Xolotl has entered the pantheon and the people's imaginary, however he's not like the other Aztec gods who elects ixiptla, instead he forges covenants that can't be broken. Or it's rather those in possession of the Nemontemi Stone that can do it for him.

From that moment onwards, across history, the Aztec Confederation's authorities tried to keep the stone in check, and eventually even unleashed its' destructive abilities (like when Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of water, used it to sink part of the island of Nahui-Atl, in the northern region of Anahuac's Atlantic Ocean during the Second Sun Era) but on other occasions, the stone's fame attracted enemies, that once having it in their hands, caused great damage to Aztlán (like Xbalanque, who has spent more than a lifetime trying to release Cipactli and destroy Aztlán. He made a pact with Xolotl in the realm of Lamat, and even possessed the stone for some time). Some known people who forged this pact during some time in their lives, throughout these centuries, are the Cuetzpalin Ahuitzotl (named after these beings), William Mattoni (a human from Anahuac, in his Cuetzpalin form known as Paynaltzin, standing for "fast", named after the messenger or ixiptla of Huitzilopochtli in myth and ceremonies) MI-6 Detective Archibald Graham, some more people who were unknowingly led to forge these pacts because of William's own lack of knowledge that he had made the pact in first place (he did it under guidance of Hunahpu , Xbalanque's brother, who didn't tell him all he needed to know) and also Dracus Bathory Sonck, ex- AXIS Agent (Bounty Hunter). The 12th century chichimeca ruler known as "Xolotl", and later his son, Nopaltzin, who suceeded him as the ruler of the city of Tenayuca, have likely forged pacts with the entity, too.

Description
This is my version / design of XOLOTL, a Mexica deity, and how he appears in my current personal story project, currently called "IXIPTLA" (nahuatl for "impersonator", refers to images, idols, representations of deities and also a category of sacrificial victims, usually war captives, which impersonated deities and lived luxurious lives in their last days before the sacrifice. This concept plays a major role in the story, but I can't reveal it yet). I've just loosely followed some of the god's actual iconography, and opted for a more sculpture oriented visual, because of his role in the story.

I hope you like it! If you did, don't forget to follow me on other "social" networks as well!
Behance | facebook | instagram | tumblr

XOLOTL (nahuatl for "beast", or "animal") is a recurring deity in the pre-hispanic Mexica / "Aztec" Cosmology, and likely in the world view of other nahua and "Mesoamerican" cultures.
Usually depicted as a dog ( Xoloitzcuintli, the name for the Mexican hairless dog breed), Xolotl is associated with lightning, death, the underworld, and also Venus as the Evening Star (in this position he's known as The Lord of the Evening Star). For a long time, and following previous traditions, the Mexica have domesticated different kinds of dogs . The Xoloitzcuintli, for example, were companions both in life and in the afterlife - in some levels of Mictlán, the underworld, the Tonalli (which can mean "heat of the sun", but also something like "fate" a specific kind of vital energy , could be translated as a "soul") of a dead person was helped by a dog, it's companion in life, to cross a river. It's very likely that some dogs were sacrificed alongside their human companions. The itzcuintli breed of dogs was also killed for food. There's another kind of dogs known by the Mexica, the itzcuintepoztli, who were described as dangerous and cunning wild dogs.

Xolotl's role in the underworld, however, isn't limited to being the patron of dogs: in the important tale about the creation of the Fifth Sun ("Nahui Ollin", our current time, and that of the pre-hispanic Mexica as well. The Mexica world view separates existence in different Sun Eras ruled by different suns, or gods that took the role of the sun. Each era had its own population, that ended in its' own catastrophic ways), Xolotl, alongside his brother Quetzalcoatl ("Feathered Serpent", one of the four "Tezcatlipocas", a god of culture, associated to the wind, the realm of Cihuatlampa in the West direction, but also Tlahuiztlampa in the East, as "Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli" - the Lord of the Morning Star. This popular deity derives from other ancient Mesoamerican traditions, the Feathered Serpent has been also known, worshiped and depicted by different Mayan cultures and the Olmecs as well) has been responsible for entering the perilous realm of Mictlán and returning with the bones of the people from the previous Era (Nahui Atl, the Fourth Sun, that ended with a catastrophic flood). They've crossed a series of tasks imposed by Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the dead, and after getting past them, they've sacrificed their own blood to give new life into the people.

In his iconography, especially in his depictions at the codices, Xolotl carries a conch known as the ehecailacozcatl ("wind jewel"), a symbol of wind (ehecatl) also used by his brother Quetzalcoatl. It's associated to the tale in which they descended into the underworld: one of the tasks which Mictlantecuhtli had them to do was to play a sound from a shell that had no holes. They had worms perforating holes into the shell so that they could play a sound, thus tricking the god of death.
Xolotl is also associated with the sentient individuals of the species of water salamanders known as Axolotl (which translates as "water creature"). In some accounts, it's said that he has disguised himself with red reeds on his ears and escaped to the waters when the Sun was looking for the other gods to sacrifice them (the Sun is fed by blood, and it only makes its way from East to West, thus allowing life, if it is offered life. This concept of sacrifice for the sake of new life is vital to Mexica cosmology. If the Sun isn't offered the vital energy from the others, then life wouldn't exist and catastrophe would happen. Of course this concept has been used politically, yet that's what religion truly is).
As the brother of Quetzalcoatl, Xolotl is also considered a patron of twins - several prehispanic cultures and traditions considered the birth of twins as an oddity. Besides that, Xolotl is also associated to deformities, monstrosities, sickness, and also thunder, regarded as "heavenly fire". There seems to be a connection between thunder and the birth of twins, reportedly in some pre-hispanic cultures throughout america, they said twins were born when the thunder divided a person in the mother's womb into two.
In the Tonalpohualli ("count of days" in nahuatl, a calendar consisting of twenty 13 day periods used by the Mexica. Not to confuse with another Mexica calendar, the 365 days xiuhpohualli), Xolotl rules over the day Ollin ("movement", represented by a sacrificial flint knife. It names our current sun era, and represent change through conflict or sacrifice) and the trecena (spanish name for the 13 day periods) 1 Cozcacuauhtli (vulture). The ruler of the day Itzcuintli ("dog") is Mictlantecuhtli, god of the dead - once more hinting the association of dogs with the underworld.

- - -

ENGINEERS

In the story of IXIPTLA, the Xolotl is a deity whose original form is the "Nemontemi Stone" (Nemontemi, "hollow days" in nahuatl, refer to the last five days in the xiuhpohualli, a period when people didn't perform important activities because they were fearful a solar eclipse, and the possible collapse of the Fifth Sun was possible - it's said the Fifth Sun, our era, will end with earthquakes). The Nemontemi Stone is the first and most powerful crystal of the hidden element known as Cozauhqui. The Five hidden elements are special elements that can hide as common elements of the periodic table, but once activated - only by another previously activated piece of the same element - they feature their special properties. That means, every alchemist or dragon in the universe able to activate and use this element has or had a contact with a piece of it that, through history, may have been activated by the said element's first and more powerful crystal. In the case of the Cozauhqui element, it's the Nemontemi Stone, which awakened form is Xolotl. The Cozauhqui, also referred to as "The Gatherer Element", is known for its explosive properties.
Since the ancient times, in the universe of IXIPTLA, different individuals and communities of dragons have been able to use these hidden elements, and use crystals of these elements in their own organism not only to improve flight, breathing and physical abilities in general, but also to attain super powers, like for example creating an atmosphere over its own body (thus being able to travel space), or even establishing a network of physical control and influence over other creatures, thus establishing political alliances and exercising influence. This seemingly natural relation between dragons and the hidden elements may have been one of the factors which influenced their downfall as well. All the prime hidden element crystals have originated from the stone of an elder element, the "Ater Adamantis" (Black Diamond), that was forcefully taken from the head of the Serpent Apep, a creature dwelling within the Chaos Dimension, who was conquered by the eldest form of Hydros, the Elemental God of waters, and the bearer of the Trident, that has split the Ater Adamantis into the five crystals, thus giving origin to the five hidden elements. In an ancient time, which the peoples of AZTLÁN consider to be the First Sun Era, the dragons had been created out of the cooperation, design and intervention on nature by the elemental gods of water and wind - the later, known by some peoples from the plan of Helladeas as Aethyr , has been known by some peoples of Aztlán in different forms and names, from U Kux Kah ("Heart of the Sky" in K'iché Maya) to his latest incarnations, including Huitzilopochtli ("Hummingbird of the South", or alternatively "Left-Handed Hummingbird", the God of War, patron of Mexico, the ruler of the Fifth Sun, associated to the South direction) - even though, these peoples didn't know Huitzilopochtli elsewhere is a wind god (such attributes in particular are reserved to other deities, one of them, Kukulcan [a Maya name for Quetzalcoatl] an ancient enemy of the war god itself, from the same kin of Apep, the Quinames [Giants] which rivaled the Elemental Gods before the creation of several things that are today). The first dragon, however, is the incarnation of the Elemental God of Darkness, known as Tupaq (quechua for "noble"), or Erebos in Helladeas & Mixcoatl ("Cloud Serpent") in Aztlán, and later, by some peoples of Anahuac ("Land between the waters", name which the Aztecs used to refer to planet Earth, or at least the known regions of the "American" continent). Based on him, as well drawing inspiration from other kinds of creatures - the amphibian Tritons and the reptile Cuetzpalin (nahuatl for "lizard", they're natives to Aztlán and have lived in Anahuac during some eras), the dragons were powerful, promising creatures. But their features also dragged their race into disgrace and conflict, ultimately due to the power of the crystals. Eventually, the five crystals, studied by gods and mortals who reached a certain excellence, have been stolen by dragons that have conquered other realms in the galaxy, and eventually killed by other creatures envying their power. Such is the case of the Ismenian Dragon, who had the Nemontemi Stone on its own organism, before he was slain by Cadmus, a Chthonian Triton (Chthonian meaning underground, or under the earth, it's a category of tritons that lost the exoskeletal orichalcum conch which they used to possess, and have other odd tissue growing on its place, like extra limbs or tentacles). When Aethyr witnessed the assassination of his creation, he took the Nemontemi Stone with him, and left to his preferred realm, Aztlán, where he'd keep studying and modifying nature for his own will.

AWAKENING

Huitzilopochtli is a facet of the greater elemental god of wind (Ehecatl, or, as he prefer to call, "Motion" - Ollin), one that plays an important political role on Aztlán, and resurrect every time in new Ixiptla (impersonators, usually human, Cuetzpalin or other vertebrate hosts ritually sacrificed in order to become his new body - like other Cuetzpalin do). He's the creator of the Cuetzpalin, and therefore, their natural life cycle - including the Tonalcoatl (Tonal from the vital energy concept and Coatl from "snake"), first and last stage of a Cuetzpalin's life, after it hatches from the egg, like a snake, it becomes a part of the Cuetzpalin's brain when it develops a larger body, and ultimately splits from the body, like a reptile shedding its' skin, when the body dies. It keeps a Cuetzpalin's consciousness, memory and identities, and can live symbiotically with another vertebrate host. In this symbiosis, the Tonalcoatl establishes a telepathic link with the host, and also allows it the ability to transform its own body into a Cuetzpalin (or the closer it can get to a Cuetzpalin) at will, but only for some time, for if the ability is over used, it will lose its' consciousness to the Tonalcoatl. Similarly, if the host is fatally wounded, the Tonalcoatl can heal its wounds and take over the renewed body. The Cuetzpalin possess an amazing rate of regeneration and healing factor thanks to the substance known as Atl-Tachinolli which they posses in their blood - it's directly derived from the organism of the Quinames, U Kux Kah's ancient enemies, whose bodies and corpses have inspired him to create his greatest triumphs. Atl-Tlachinolli literally means "burning water", but metaphorically means "holy water", referring to blood, and is also a concept in the Mexica world view which translates as warfare or even holy war. It's the concept of sacrifice, self-sacrifice, combat and the deadly energy which moves the world, killing and dying to create new life and restart the cycle of life and death. In the IXIPTLA Mythos, it has originally been used to refer to the miraculous life substance of the Quinames, and later the Cuetzpalin's blood, but eventually, its' meaning has been lost, and became used to refer to any kind of blood. The Cuetzpalin, in this parasitic act of enlongating their life span at the expense of others, do like the Teteoh (gods) with their Ixiptla: they live forever, and continue their role as natural forces, at the expense of individuals who gave their lives to them, so they could keep giving life (by regulating the atmosphere, gravity, making sure the sun will rise) to all for the next generations. Surely, it may be convenient and sadistic as it sounds, but the abstract concept of nature, comparable to that of a deity, has no ethics at all.

While Huitzilopochtli may be one of the best known forms of this entity, because of his public role within the Aztec Confederation, and his direct contact to the Aztec leaders, it has other forms, like the Night Wind (Yohualli Ehecatl) and the jaguar-like Heart of the Mountain ( Tepeyollotl), guardians from towns and labs in the underworld realms of Aztlán, carved over the body of Cipactli, one of the oldest Quinames and U Kux Kah's greatest enemy, this immortal being is fated to hold the world of Aztlán on its back, growing from a giant tree and reaching the skies. It can heal every wound instantly, yet it suffers, chained tight in the unseen, swampy, misty and gloomy realms of the underworld. From its' organism, U Kux Kah has designed creatures that preceded the Cuetzpalin, and while its' suffering is revered by the populations above (that otherwise, wouldn't exist), it didn't choose this position, Cipactli isn't the life-giving earth of Aztlán out of it's free choice altruism. It's merely the unknown trophy of the arrogant wind god, who hides under the guise of a life-giving god, and keep bringing death, masked as hope for the next generations. That said, after Aethyr, one of U Kux Kah's faces, has returned from Helladeas, he had the stone guarded in Tlaxipuchicalco ("House of Penance"), a lab, or shrine, in the town of Apanoayan ("where one crosses the river"), carved out of one of Cipactli's spikes, it was crossed by a river of blood sprouting from the damaged scales of Cipactli's wounded right paw. Ancient humans lived there, and most of them, unlike the towns located on the upper regions, didn't fear or even tried to understand the gods, they didn't perform the rites, they didn't compose poems, their songs were inspired by their simple, yet harsh lives, and the gods pretty much ignored them. But one of them, wearing the skin of dead men and women like an ixiptla, was a studious man who observed the movement of the stars, the course of the water and the winds, who practiced agriculture, and studied patterns in nature. His name was Xipe Totec, and he felt like the locals didn't take his knowledge, or his art seriously. He only hoped he could achieve great deeds which could grasp the attention of the gods, but among those people, who only wanted to drink and party after a hunt, no, he wouldn't be noticed, he and his deeds would be overshadowed by their very presence. He roamed through the town's outskirts, he climbed the spiky mount Catcitepulz ("Mountain that speaks") and reached Tlaxipuchicalco, where he found the Nemontemi Stone, guarded by the Yohualli Ehecatl. It wasn't the shining golden brilliance of the stone that amazed him, it was its' apparent power, its' mystical origin, its' presence. That's when he had an insight.
Xipe Totec returned to Apanoayan, and called out to the multitude of people, he assembled them and spoke to them that they should follow him in a trip to Catcitepulz, where they should revere the gods and atone for their ways, for it would bring them good fortune in the days to come. Because the people were hypocritical as always, they believed a bureaucratic ceremony of minutes could compensate for a lifetime of bad deeds, like if the nature, the gods, could be deceived so easily, as if their judgment relied on something as superficial, so they decided to follow him, and cross the spiky mountain. It's said all followed, save for the children, who stood in the town. Eventually, Xipe Totec has reached Tlaxipichicalco before the crowd, and took the Nemontemi Stone for his own, he has set it in fire, and thrown from the mountain. When the blazing stone has reached the mountain's basement (that's also composed of Cozauhqui), it exploded, and caused a devastating earthquake which consumed all the victims climbing the mountain, all the people died, and Xipe, too, was going to die, when he witnessed, from the ashes, a dog-like entity rising. Xolotl has been fed, and finally, he had awaken. Xipe Totec was saved by the Night Wind, the voice of reason who spoke to him through the mountain, and for his "courage, penance, observations and valuable knowledge", has been turned into an immortal, and brought to the company of other gods in another town, on upper regions of Aztlán - the town of Youalahuan ("The Night Drinker", a reference to vampires that inhabited if). Yes, that's right, he's been noticed by the gods and rewarded because he caused a genocide, and by chance, discovered that the Nemontemi Stone actually has a life of its own. It was his original plan to return to Apanoayan and educate the children in his ways, but because the gods brought him above, he didn't return, and the children, without their parents and living in a ruined city bordering the wilderness, likely fell victim to nature in many forms, either predatory violence, disease, or hunger. As for Xolotl, he was awaken, and roamed the wilderness like an invincible, immortal beast whose body is made of this powerful stone. His presence has called the interest of another race that inhabits Cipactli's body and the bloody seas running from it: the dreaded Ahuitzotl, who seemed to know more about this new god than many other Aztecs.

COVENANT

The Ahuitzotl are non-human mammals that descend from the race known in Helladeas as Telkhines. In the ancient times, when it was known as Pelasgia, they were feared and brutal warriors and sorcerers, that also crafted weapons out of these hidden elements, using parts of Tritons in the proccess. Some of them have started to colonize Aztlán's underworld's sea after Tlaloc, the rain god, has arrived in the realm, coming from a distant land. With no Tritons in Aztlán, the "Ahuitzotl" ("Spiky Water Creature", a name which the Aztecs used to refer to the Tritons, but also to a wider variety of sea creatures, ultimately becoming the name of this kind) started to hunt wild Cuetzpalin, and use their Tonalcoatl in the fabrication of weapons known as Xiuhcoatl ("Fire Snake"), symbiotic, sentient creatures carved from the bizarre union of Tonalcoatl and hidden elements, these weapons turned warriors into one man armies. When this came to be known, by U Kux Kah's ixiptla, Huitzilopochtli ordered them to create the most powerful of the Xiuhcoatl for his own, and feared like the thunder, it became his prized possession.
Despite aware of the hidden elements because of foreigner traditions they kept, the Ahuitzotl still didn't know beforehand that the Nemontemi Stone itself is a living creature. The awakening of Xolotl is the first awakening of such an entity ever reported, and it has opened the possibility that other hidden element prime crystals indeed are dormant entities - what they are, in fact - adding a new level of ambition in the Ahuitzotl/Telkhine dark mentality.

For a long time, Xolotl roamed the underworld, feeding, killing, and causing havoc - the movement of his running paws tore apart the firmament, what called the attention of Tepeyollotl, that has planned to capture him, for study purposes. The Ahuitzotl, despite initially friendly towards Huitzilopochtli, were no allies to the Aztec Confederation, as they threatened every Cuetzpalin in the realm. The only way Xolotl could be captured and put back into the dormant shape of the Nemontemi Stone, however, was cooling down, and this, the Ahuitzotl have performed - employing other hidden elements - before the Aztec Confederation. Contacting and studying the dog entity, the Ahuitzotl discovered that even in the stone form, Xolotl can grant pacts with certain alchemists, if they perform a ritual with their own blood. This covenant, signed with blood over the stone, grants the magician the power to create an array of armors and weapons out of this specific element, and in turn, reveal and control other pieces of this element in the nearby environment. This amazing power, however, is reserved to a limited number of people, and for the entity Xolotl to forge more pacts, another one who has made the pact previously must be killed by the next one that want to perform it. With time, the Ahuitzotl started to create such pacts, and battle each other for this amazing power, causing havoc in the underworld, havoc that reached the upper realms of Aztlán, and troubled the gods. The Aztec Confederation, then, sent their ranks to recover the Nemontemi Stone, and keep the power for their own.
In the ensuing conflict, however, Xolotl has been awaken again, and from it they discovered the price of the entity's covenant: whenever the Nemontemi Stone is awaken into Xolotl (the first awakening needed a fiery ignition, another piece of Cozauhqui, and a genocide. All the others merely needed a certain heat), all the soldiers who made a pact with it fall unconscious, as if their souls left their bodies, and they shall remain this way - subject to outside phenomena, including hunger - unless Xolotl is reverted back into the Stone (by being frozen). An entity grows in power if those who made a pact keep killing others, it gets fed by blood of the slain, and this mutual benefit between the entity and the one who made the pact lasts until the one who made the pact dies. Eventually, Xolotl and later the entities of other dormant prime crystals, after awakened (all through genocides across history), instigated conflict between its' "covenants". Xolotl's apparent main interest is feeding and sleeping, but that means a lot of suffering has to be done. Xolotl can't die, and won't, even if it doesn't feed for long, it will at best get bored.
The Aztec Confederation reclaimed the stone, and it was guarded by Tepeyollotl in the Teotlatlauhco island, a desert island on Cipactli's right side, from where a volcano, the Popocatepetl ("Smoking Mountain"), erupts sometimes. Xolotl has entered the pantheon and the people's imaginary, however he's not like the other Aztec gods who elects ixiptla, instead he forges covenants that can't be broken. Or it's rather those in possession of the Nemontemi Stone that can do it for him.

From that moment onwards, across history, the Aztec Confederation's authorities tried to keep the stone in check, and eventually even unleashed its' destructive abilities (like when Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of water, used it to sink part of the island of Nahui-Atl, in the northern region of Anahuac's Atlantic Ocean during the Second Sun Era) but on other occasions, the stone's fame attracted enemies, that once having it in their hands, caused great damage to Aztlán (like Xbalanque, who has spent more than a lifetime trying to release Cipactli and destroy Aztlán. He made a pact with Xolotl in the realm of Lamat, and even possessed the stone for some time). Some known people who forged this pact during some time in their lives, throughout these centuries, are the Cuetzpalin Ahuitzotl (named after these beings), William Mattoni (a human from Anahuac, in his Cuetzpalin form known as Paynaltzin, standing for "fast", named after the messenger or ixiptla of Huitzilopochtli in myth and ceremonies) MI-6 Detective Archibald Graham, some more people who were unknowingly led to forge these pacts because of William's own lack of knowledge that he had made the pact in first place (he did it under guidance of Hunahpu , Xbalanque's brother, who didn't tell him all he needed to know) and also Dracus Bathory Sonck, ex- AXIS Agent (Bounty Hunter). The 12th century chichimeca ruler known as "Xolotl", and later his son, Nopaltzin, who suceeded him as the ruler of the city of Tenayuca, have likely forged pacts with the entity, too.