Xopatl
Xopatl (pronounced so-PAH-tul)1 is a nation of magic and wonder located in southern Arcadia. Prior to the Age of Lost Omens, it owed its prosperity to the Veins of Creation, a network of ley lines that provided magic items and almost limitless energy to its people, with its source at the kumaru tree within Tumbaja Mountain.12
Geography
Xopatl is a relatively isolated nation, nestled between the Mildanesi Mountains and Lake Tapipallati. It borders Razatlan to the north, Innazpa to the east, and Nalmeras to the south.1 The Manzinago Forest stretches along its southwestern coast, the Jolizpan Forest along its northwestern coast, the Forest of the Sacred Eye around the southern Lake Clear Waters, and the Forest of Thieves near its heart.3
Government
Xopatl is a democratic nation, with no single head of state; instead, this role is fulfilled by the Chosen Council that consists of 19 officials elected in biannual elections. Everyday matters across Xopatl are handled by another body, the House of Elders. Cities are allowed to govern themselves but have to send at least one representative to the House of Elders to advocate on behalf of the population, although small towns are allowed to choose a nearby city's representative as their own.1
History
During Earthfall, a shard of the Starstone fell deep in the Mildanesi Mountains, which was controlled by Razatlan at the time. A vibrant forest sprang around the crash site, and when explorers from Innazpa sought it out, they discovered that this mystical stone contained power that transformed them into hero-gods. With their newly found power, they seceded from Razatlan and secured Innazpa's independence. This marked the beginning of Razatlan's decline.1
Some hero-gods, wishing to better understand the mysterious stone, settled in the new forest and learnt to control the plants around them, allowing them to carve out their own new land by weathering away the Mildanesi Mountains. They named their country Xopatl, meaning Land of Promise, to remind themselves of the gift that allowed them to escape Razatlan's grasp, and as a caution lest they become like Razatlan.1
The might of the hero-gods allowed Xopatl to flourish while most of Golarion languished in the Age of Darkness. Its arcane botanists mastered the growth of living ley lines, creating the Veins of Creation. By the beginning of the Age of Anguish, most of the hero-gods had died or ascended, but left their country in a prosperous state. Their legacy has remained, and many of Xopatl's citizens call them living saints.1
From -1524 AR to -1489 AR, Xopatl hosted the Azlanti traveller Aroden, who came there to study the Veins of Creation. He placed a fragment of his soul within the kumaru tree, allowing him to manipulate the living ley lines with much more ease than even the greatest arcane botanists, who never realised that the tree's longevity millennia after was due to the echoes of Aroden's soul, after he left Xopatl and eventually became a deity.2
In 4606 AR, Aroden's death caused the echo to unleash a magical feedback that withered the kumaru tree and shut down the Veins of Creation. With Xopatl gripped by panic, the arcane botanists desperately tried to reinvigorate the kumaru tree, but could not do so, as the tree was tainted by the echoes of Aroden's dead soul, and even the tree's seeds could not take root. Eventually, the botanists managed to create small-scale networks of ley lines still used today, but the true Veins of Creation were gone, and with them Xopatl's golden age. Since it was discovered that Aroden altered the kumaru tree long ago, his name as been spoken as the foreigner who brought ruin to Xopatl.2
People
Most of Xopatl's population consists of Razatlani humans, with a significant Balveris, Caldaru, dwarf, halfling, orc, beastkin, and wyrwood minorities. Beyond the settlements, Xopatl is a dangerous place, filled with monsters.1
Trade and foreign relations
Xopatl maintains good relations with all three of its neighbouring countries—Innazpa, Nalmeras, and Razatlan—which have been increasingly strengthened by the exchange of resources. Xopatl is one of the greatest exporters of magic items in Arcadia, and tourism between the four nations is frequent.1
Flora and fauna
The regions between the settlements of Xopatl can be quite dangerous with monsters dwelling in many of the nation's more remote reaches. In terms of mundane fauna, aurochs, coyotes, giant crabs, deer, eagles, mountain lions, reefclaws, tunbaros, and wolves can all be found in various parts of Xopatl. More dangerous creatures, like bulettes, chupacabras, death worms, megafauna of all kinds, saguarois, and thunderbirds are scarily common out in the wilds. Rarer but no less dangerous inhabitants of Xopatl's unsettled reaches include chaneques, coatls4 of all kinds, various sorts of drakes, encantados, lloronas, nagas of various sort (though most commonly water and dark nagas), sayonas, tunches, and xtabays.5
References
Paizo published a major article about Xopatl in Borne by the Sun's Grace.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 . “Xopatl” in Borne by the Sun's Grace, 63–65. Paizo Inc., 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 . “Borne by the Sun's Grace” in Borne by the Sun's Grace, 3–4. Paizo Inc., 2019
- ↑ . “Xopatl” in Borne by the Sun's Grace, 64. Paizo Inc., 2019
- ↑ Paizo referred to coatls as couatls until the publication of Monster Core.
- ↑ . “Xopatl” in Borne by the Sun's Grace, 65. Paizo Inc., 2019