Children of the Sun - A Sunset Invasion AAR

[Flinteroon]

TONATIUH ​

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CHILDREN OF THE SUN

"And they say that, even though all the gods died, In truth, still he did not move. (It was) not possible for the Sun, Tonatiuh, To follow his path. In this way, Ehecatl did his work. Ehecatl stood up straight. He grew extremely strong. He ran and blew lightly. Instantly, he moved (the sun). Like so, he follows his path."
​

One needs not belong to the Tlamacazqui to know the lore behind the the fierce and warlike Tonatiuh. Light of day, Supreme ruler of the East and Great Sun Lord of the Fifth and Final Age. He-Who-Goes-Forth-Shining or He-Who-Makes-The-Day. Tonatiuh was firmly associated with the cuahutli, alluding to his legendary journey across the cosmos as the present Sun, travelling through the daytime sky each and every day. Descending in the West, and ascending in the East. It is from him who the unfortunate victims of Tezcatlipoca take their name in this story, finding solace in the similarities between their circumstances and the great Sun God, hoping to proudly raise their banners across this newly discovered Eastern land, and in time, to build a new place they can call home.

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Mexica: name of the group of Nahuatl peoples who ruled over the vast Aztec Empire.
Tonatiuh: Sun deity of the Mexica pantheon during the fifth and final cycle of the universe.
Tlamacazqui: name for a priest or the priestly class, meaning "giver of things," interpreted as knowledge.
Ehecatl: Mexica deity associated with the wind, and prominently known as one of the creator gods and culture heroes of the mythological origin of all things.
Cuahutli: the word for Eagle.
Tezcatlipoca: God of Providence, and one of the main deities in the Mexica pantheon. Associated with war, the night sky, jaguars, hurricanes, beauty, discord, hostility, divination, rulership, obsidian, temptation, sorcery, and conflict.

 

[HistoryDude]

Sunset Invasion from the Aztec perspective. This'll be interesting

 

[Specialist290]

Been a while since I've seen a Sunset Invasion campaign of any stripe, much less one from the invaders' perspective. Definitely going to be keeping an eye on this one

 

[Bullfilter]

This looks interesting - will tune in.

 

[Flinteroon]

Sunset Invasion from the Aztec perspective. This'll be interesting

Been a while since I've seen a Sunset Invasion campaign of any stripe, much less one from the invaders' perspective. Definitely going to be keeping an eye on this one

This looks interesting - will tune in.

Quick replies Thanks for showing interest! Yes this AAR will be from the perspective of the invaders... at least for the beginning of the playthrough. At some point the native peoples of the old world may grow tired of the Aztec yoke however, and then we might begin to see the point of view of the conquered, and their struggle for liberation, although that may be a long, long time from now.

 

[Nikolai]

I am in!

 

[Flinteroon]

ON THE ORIGINS OF THE AZTEC MENACE​

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Written by Friar Raymond de Narbonne for Pope Anastasius III, c. 10th century AD

Approximate extent of the Aztec Empire and its surroundings at the time of the invaders' arrival in Africa

​

Very little is known about the origins of the Aztecs and their homeland, for they are quite withholding of any information regarding their place of origin, preferring their subjects to remain in the dark about their true home. Despite the shroud of mystery behind them, Holy Father, my brothers in faith and I have compiled a brief history of the Aztec peoples prior to their arrival in the continent, based on what little we have learned from the Andalusian traders within their lands, who frequently journey from the port of Valencia to our Parish in Narbonne.

The Moors from Valencia tell tales of a vast Aztec Empire in a land known as Anahuac, far to the West, across the ocean, where no Christian has ventured before. It is there where they rule over a myriad of peoples with an iron fist, extending their yoke over an area comparable to the Empire of the great Charlemagne. Their capital city of Tenochtitlan, far more populous than even the eternal city of Rome at its prime, lays at the center of their empire. Despite their vast size however, their Empire had become stagnant, not unlike the Rome of old, and faced numerous enemies all around them.

To their West lays the powerful Tarascan state of the Purepecha peoples, the eternal enemy of the Aztecs. Their realm boasts considerable fortifications at its borders, comparable to the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, turning their realm into an impregnable fortress which the Aztecs found impossible to defeat. The mere existence of the Purepechas has prevented the Aztecs from expanding their rule to the Northwest of the region, as any such attempts could easily be thwarted by their Purepecha neighbors.

On the other side of their Empire laid a plethora of city-states populated by the Maya peoples. Fiercely independent, these cities would frequently wage war on each other for hegemonic dominance over the rest of the Maya, but would cease all conflict at the first sign of trouble with an outside power, forming powerful alliances led by the strongest city of them all. At the time of the invaders' arrival in the coasts of Mauretania, such city was Itza, which had coalesced all the Maya cities into a powerful coalition capable of opposing Aztec expansion to the Southeast. The Maya cities frequently found themselves at war with the Arawak Commonwealth to their East, but these Arawak would often provide aid to the Maya during their wars against the Aztecs, as their naval superiority allowed them to blockade their enemies quite handily, as well as facilitated the transport of supplies. As a conquest of the Maya city-states by the Aztecs would indubitably turn the Arawaks into their next target, they would rather help their enemies fight the Aztec menace, than seeing them fail to a much more powerful foe, who would inevitably turn them into their next target.

Far to the Northeast of the Aztec Empire lays the Muscogee Confederacy, which would see itself allied with the Aztecs during the latest Aztec-Maya war, providing much needed naval support which the Aztecs lacked after the Arawak joined the Mayas' side. Unable to pierce through the dense jungles of the Maya frontier, the Aztec leadership had devised a plan which would have the largest amphibian invasion ever seen take place on the heartland of the Mayan League. Departing from the southern ports of the Muscogee Confederacy, one-hundred thousand screaming warriors would set sail to the Kingdom of the Guanahatebey. From there, they would launch an attack on the Arawak capital, which shared the same island, and force them out of the war, enabling the Muscogee transports to ferry the Aztecs directly into the northern shores of their Mayan enemies.

Such a frightening sight was a horror in the eyes of God, who shortly after their departure saw them struck by fierce winds and never-ending showers, which compounded with the incompetency of the Muscogee navigators, led to the loss of more than half their fleet, as well as their eventual arrival to the shores of Africa, having been set off-course by the freak weather. I have arrived to the conclusion that their presence here is but a test of faith, to see whether Christendom can hold against the onslaught of both Saracens and Aztecs, but many of my brethren have begun to lose faith. I hope this report is to your satisfaction, and anxiously await a response, as the crisis continues to grow as reports of Aztec warriors near the border towns of Barcelona and Urgell grow more frequent each passing day. If nothing is done, this parish may soon be abandoned, as more and more of my brothers flee to the safety of more northern towns, away from the incoming slaughter. Perhaps an intervention by the seat of Peter himself may be needed to amend the situation, for once the Hispanians fall, we will be next.

Your humble servant, Raymond de Narbonne.

 

[Ebanu8]

Have to see how this Sunset invasion will go. Subbed.

 

[RustyHunter]

An excellent introduction, and I'm glad to see you working on another AAR!

I've never played Sunset Invasion, so what decides where they land?

 

[Flinteroon]

I am in!

Have to see how this Sunset invasion will go. Subbed.

Thanks for the early support .

An excellent introduction, and I'm glad to see you working on another AAR!

I've never played Sunset Invasion, so what decides where they land?

I believe it chooses where they land at random, from a pool of targets which includes every de jure kingdom with an Atlantic coast. They throw two waves at you, each landing at different kingdoms, but as this AAR has them discover the old world by accident after being swept by a large storm, there will be no reinforcements.

 

[Superstorm]

Interesting! A Sunset Invasion from the Aztec's side. Most people just have it turned off, myself included. I will follow this and see where it goes! As a new AAR writer myself, I wish you the best of luck with this.

 

[Idhrendur]

An interesting start. Curious to see where you take it.

 

[Cora Giantkiller]

Sounds like fun. Can't wait to see where this goes. All glory to Quetzalcoatl!

 

[HistoryDude]

Well, it seems like the Aztecs have enemies in their homeland.

I wonder if we'll see an alliance between the Maya/Arawak and the Europeans?

 

[Flinteroon]

Interesting! A Sunset Invasion from the Aztec's side. Most people just have it turned off, myself included. I will follow this and see where it goes! As a new AAR writer myself, I wish you the best of luck with this.

Thank you! Good luck in your run as well.

I think a reason a lot of people end up turning it off is how little flavor there really is in that DLC pack, but hopefully I can provide a bit of flavor to them here.

An interesting start. Curious to see where you take it.

Sounds like fun. Can't wait to see where this goes. All glory to Quetzalcoatl!

Thanks for commenting! We shall take it to the heart of Christendom and the Muslim world. For Huitzilopochtli!

Well, it seems like the Aztecs have enemies in their homeland.

I wonder if we'll see an alliance between the Maya/Arawak and the Europeans?

Indeed they do. Usually Sunset Invasion occurs around the 13th/14th century in vanilla CK2, where they are a continent-spanning Empire which is at war with the Incas and North American Plain tribes, but since this takes place a few centuries before, we get a much smaller Aztec Empire which resembles that at the time of the Spanish Conquest in our timeline. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for the peoples of the old world, the Aztecs which arrived in Europe and North Africa have been stranded with no way home, so reaching out to their enemies will not be possible for at least a few centuries. At the same time though, the Aztecs have no reinforcements coming, so they oughta make do with what men they landed with.

 

[generalis Julius Caesar]

All glory to Quetzalcoatl!

 

[TWR97]

You had me at the title alone, and now you gained yourself another audience with the premise. I am looking forward to see how far the Mexica will go in the name of the Sun God!

 

[Midnite Duke]

The Old World response to the Aztecs should resemble a human response to an alien invasion. Yesterday we were enemies trying to kill other and hopefully we will do so tomorrow, but today we must unite to eliminate the greater menace. The biggest question about the DLC is why was it done at that point in the franchise's life. It resembles a wacky idea that happens near the end when good ideas have largely been used not early in the lifespan when there are many great pathways to travel.

 

[Bullfilter]

An interesting backgrounder - and soon the action will start!

The Old World response to the Aztecs should resemble a human response to an alien invasion.

Or the Aztec response to the European invasion in OTL? In which case get ready for some terrible plagues!

 

[Specialist290]

An interesting backgrounder - and soon the action will start!

Or the Aztec response to the European invasion in OTL? In which get ready for some terrible plagues!

This is actually modeled in game -- the Aztecs bring with them a particularly nasty variant of syphilis that spreads like wildfire after they first land.