The Southern Nobles

The long Talsas River rose in the mountains of Tlaxcala and rushed westward for more than a thousand li, forming the broad Atoyac Lake in the south of the kingdom. In the local tongue, the meaning of Atoyac was "great lake."

The great Atoyac Lake rolled with waves for a hundred li, and at its broadest, its edge could not be seen at a glance. Busy dugout canoes wove across the lake, linking its northern and southern shores and trading goods from all directions.

South of the great lake lay endless rolling mountain forests, with Tecos tribes scattered among them, calling the land beneath their feet Sacatula. Farther east from Sacatula State was the newly acquired mountain land of Vetamo State, held by the Alliance. And on the northern shore of the great lake was a rare fertile plain along the water, where Purepecha villages were prosperous and bustling, their vast fields together supporting a great lakeside city.

That was the trade center of the southern tribes, the county seat of Purple Grass County, Kuramo City. The city had more than twenty thousand people, over a dozen temples, and a huge trade market. It was the most flourishing place within two hundred li.

East of Kuramo City lay an especially vast estate. Fine trees grew there in groves, and flowers clustered like brocade, clearly tended with great care for a long time. Graceful Cordia flourished outside the estate, solemn Dahlias bloomed within, and hundreds of warriors stood guard throughout the grounds.

Entering the estate, the buildings were quite splendid in style, with white stone and red rock as their base, gold, silver, jade, and gems as decoration, and many traits of the People of the Clouds woven in. Following the garden path deeper inside, at the innermost point stood a