Somewhere in the world lies the lost valley of Tlactoztlan. The strange natives of this hidden place practice human sacrifice, pray to bizarre gods, adorn themselves with brightly-colored feathers, and – it is rumored – live in cities made of gold. Only the bravest and luckiest adventurers find their way to Tlactoztlan!
The ancient seer Huetzin lives in a cave deep within the jungle to the south of Xotepeclan. Here he subtly works to help the nearby villagers overcome the troubles inflicted upon them by both the evil sorcerer Nezatl Xomec and the corrupt priest Tlilpotonqui. Huetzin knows that he lacks the power or influence to take on either of these threats to Tlactoztlan directly and would never engage in such folly. Instead, he does what he can to ease the suffering of the people and to alert those who serve King Cuhuitlazcaltiacapan faithfully to the threats posed by those who seek to harm Tlactoztlan or its people.
Huetzin has forseen a day when an army of ghosts will come to Tlactoztlan and wash away the stains of the old ways with a sea of blood and brushes made of bones. He believes, but cannot see, that a brighter future free of evil lies on the other side of this great change. Huetzin is favorably disposed to most outlanders he encounters and is always watchful for signs that such people might lead the way to change. He is, at the very least, a strong if not active ally against the machinations of those who outlanders are likely to run afoul of when they arrive in Tlactoztlan.
Like all Izatacli (the sorcerers of Tlactoztlan), Huetzin wears a headdress comprised of white parrot feathers, with his own right-of-passage cerulean Quetzalcoatl feather at the center.
Essences
Lifeblood 11
Hero Points 3
Arcane Power 12
Attributes
Strength 1
Agility 1
Mind 2
Appeal 1
Combat
Brawl 1
Melee 1
Ranged 2
Defense 1
Careers
Sorcerer 2
Scolar 1
Hunter 1
Merchant 1
Boons
Magic of the Sorcerer Kings
Jungle Tracker
Flaws
Cravings: Chewed leaves & roots that grant energy and mystical visions
Country Bumpkin
Languages
Tlacuatl, Sorceric, Outlander
Equipment
Jade monkey-headed Knife, d3+1
Atlatl (dart thrower), 1d6-1
Ah, time for my weekly Meso-Bol fix. This guy looks like an important ‘resource’ type for PC’s. Does he cast divination magic, mostly? For some reason I can picture him in a remote mountain observatory.
If you ever offer a PDF for this campaign, you got my money.
Hey hey, G-Man! Glad to hook you up, amigo. You’re absolutely correct in your assessment of Huetzin. He’s resource to the bone. Divination and other kinds of spells, including some countering of the perversion of the jungle by those who do such things. He’s also a little bit Old Ben Kenobi, occasionally chasing off the aggressive jungle dwellers when they threaten the peasants.
At the moment I have him living in a cave, but the mountain observatory makes sense, too. Perhaps he travels between the two depending on how needed he is?
Also, it’s funny you should mention the PDF thing. I was just pondering today whether or not I was interested in going down that road. I might just be. Though I’m wondering if I should look into providing stats for different systems alongside the BoL stats. Throwing in some LL or S&W should be fairly easy and I suspect it would increase the utility (*cough* market *cough*) of the setting at least a bit. We shall see how much longer I can keep going and if I can come up with enough to make it worthwhile to produce.
Cheers!
Or you could just offer a “systemless” setting, with descriptors in place of stats (you remember The Champions systemless rpg line of adventures? I’ve still got “Brotherhood of the Bolt” somewhere around here).
Lots of people can churn out dungeons with keyed monster encounters, but this material is pure S&S.
Ah, systemless. That’s a though, too. Those old ones were definitely interesting. I also have a weakness for the old Judges’ Guild approach. Actually, I kind of think BoL is well suited for that kind of distribution since it is generally more descriptive even in its stats than some other games. Maybe I’ll knock together some quick conversion guidelines for LL/S&W like I did for BRP and those could be the basis for using the BoL material with those systems.
Also, thanks for your positive assessment of the S&S-ness of the material. It’s certainly what I’ve been striving towards, so it’s good to know I’m succeeding!