The tide rose and fell, and the singing did not cease all night. On the second day, in Feathered Serpent City, the rites celebrating the gods were still continuing. Before their own estates, the Totonac nobles set up small altars and offered great bowls of gold grains, heaps of silver ingots, gleaming pearls, colorful shells, piled flowers, and the gemstones the gods loved most—especially Turquoise, which symbolized wisdom and eternal life.
"Huh? These gemstones... these green gemstones?!"
The old Militia widened his aged eyes and stared carefully at the bustling market. Every New Year festival was also an auspicious market day for the villages within dozens of li, the time when trade in the city-state flourished most.
Most of the wealth in the coastal city-states was gathered in the hands of the Totonac nobles and priests. And when they spent, they were the most extravagant of all. The nobles and priests directed their servants to set down small bags of fragrant herbs, large sacks of grain, strings of salted fish, jars of sea salt, and the shells and pearls that the seashore produced in abundance.
Then they bought exquisite Obsidian implements from the Mexica Alliance caravans that had come from the west, along with brassware that had somehow leaked out, and Bronze Tools that were extremely expensive and rare; from the Maya caravans that had come from the east, they bought Divine Smoke from the rainforests and sea islands, as well as cotton cloth from the various Maya states of northern Yucatan; from the Mixtec caravans that had come from the south, they bought delicate, gorgeous gold and silver ornaments, along with high-priced Quetzal feathers; and from the Zapotec people who came from even farther south, they bought Cochineal dye and brassware produced in the Oaxaca Valley.
Of course, what