In the low tent, a bright brazier had been lit. The orange-red firelight warmed a jar of mild fruit wine and illuminated a broad wooden map. Simple strokes of jungle and city-states spread across the tribe's inherited wooden map, paired with ancient pictographic script, marking the vast coastal lands with myth and legend alike.
"From the conquered Feathered Serpent Holy City to the unconquered Hidden Snake Holy City, it is a thousand li of coastal land from east to west. Over hundreds of years, countless powerful tribal chiefs once longed to completely unite the Totonac tribes and establish an unprecedentedly powerful alliance to resist the threat from the highlands..."
"However, in recorded history, not a single Totonac chief ever realized their ambition. For the countless tribes scattered through the jungles, along the coast and inland, only the priests of the two holy sites truly established broad influence..."
Snake Mother Priest Miawa sat opposite Xolotl, her expression solemn. At this moment, wisdom glimmered in her eyes; her voice was steady and confident, yet hid a trace of excitement too faint to notice.
"Among all the tribes, only three groups truly hold power: the most honored God-descendants, the priests who commune with the gods, and the warriors who command force! The first two both come from hereditary inheritance, born with the right to rule. Only the last, the warriors, will accept brave ordinary tribesmen..."
"Likewise, governing a tribe and grasping the power to rule require the inheritance of culture. The reason God-descendants and priests are noble lies not only in bloodline and divinity, but also in the knowledge they inherit. Apart from those two, those who also possess inheritance are the Tribal Sages of small tribes, or the Storytellers beside the bonfire. Their tribes are too small to support truly exalted God-descendants