Crossposting from the
MotF thread as usual. Do tell me what you think of the map and scenario and everything
The end of days has already come to pass for the Empire. The arrival of the Spanish was a herald to the destruction that would be coming, one that took the form of pestilence and fratricidal war, that brought entire cities to ruin and killed countless people, notables and peasants alike. Which meant that, when the Spanish returned, brandishing their weapons and seeking to conquer all, there was little in the way to stop them. For when the war between the brothers was over, in that very same day, the Spanish returned, and the Inca Atahualpa immediately suspected those strange men were
runa quicachac, 'destroyers of peoples'. They were thieves, demons, coming to steal the wealth of the Inca and enslave the people to their perfidious will. Immediately a plan was made to destroy the invader and rid the land of their evil. A trap was set to lure in the demons, but their cunning tricks swept it over the Inca's feet, capturing him and taking him hostage, to ensure the Empire complied to their demands.
Then, they forced the Inca to grant them treasures of gold, which they melted greedily into bars, lying at every time that they would set him and his people free as long as he complied. They ransacked the temples and the cities in their lust for gold, and dared to try the Inca in their daemonic court and sentence him to death, and then forced him to renounce the gods to avoid dying in a pyre. The torturous Spanish murdered him by suffocation instead, for crimes against their sacrilegious morality. After having murdered the Inca, the Spanish declared his brother
Túpac Huallpa as their champion, but he wouldn't survive long. Then, the Spanish placed Manco Inca on the throne, as he had been a friend of theirs until then.
Manco Inca had seen the destruction those demons had brought into his country, and was smart enough to pretend to be their ally until the time was ripe to destroy them. He came to know the Spanish and the disputes between their leaders, learning how to do as they had done, and instill discord among them to make them weaker. Then, taking advantage of their untold greed, said he would bring them a golden statue for them to melt, only to escape from their captivity and come join the armies of his people, already amassing to destroy the invader.
With the Inca now safe and free to lead them, the armies of the North advanced over Cusco, where the arch-demon, Pizarro, hosted his court, and over Lima, the port they were using to ship gold to whatever hellish nightmare land their 'Spain' was supposed to be. With the Spanish forces focused on those two cities, their fall would begin the downfall of the entire demoniac venture. And so it was. Manco Inca broke the Spanish, first in Cusco and then in Lima, and entered the city of his ancestors, proclaiming the Empire restored and calling on the peoples, not just under his domain, but all others under the Sun, the barbarians to the south and the tribes to the east and north, to unite and fight against these demonic entities that had come to destroy the world.
The war was brutal like no other had been seen before under the sun. The Spanish demons kept coming from across the sea, from the lands of Panama and Spain, wave after wave. Their terrifying weapons seemed unending, and mightier than anything our people could muster. But Manco Inca was a very smart man, and he understood that, to fight the demons, we would have to learn how to use their weapons. Captured Spanish soldiers were forced to teach us how to wield and create such weapons and our soldiers were quick to adapt, and our smiths quick to learn. Arquebuses, artillery and crossbows were used back against the Spanish, and they were forged within the walls of our cities as well. Horses were left alive and learned how to ride. The Inca himself led battles on such a mount. Soon enough, our soldiers were as strong in combat as their own, and we were ever more capable of pushing back those demons.
Eventually, peace was agreed upon, and trade opened between our ports. The Inca, sensing the need to restore the forces of his people, accepted to allow the Spanish to remain in Guayaquil and in Chile, knowing well that, sooner rather than later, we would come to reclaim those lost lands and throw the Spanish back into the sea. For the time being, however, we trade with them, getting some of their inventions in exchange for the silver and gold they seem so attached to. They leave Tumpis to go onto Guayaquil, and from there to Panama and Spain.
The war might have ended, but we remember the end of days. We are still not as many as we were before the pestilence, and it remains quite deadly, killing many of our people each year. We are still rebuilding our cities and refurnishing our temples from the wars and sacks and depredations suffered upon it by the Spanish. The world ended, night fell upon our mountains but, as always, Inti rose once more, to embrace us with power to fight back. And fight back we will. We know quite well that there is not a ounce of good in Spanish hearts and that we either slay them or they will slay us, when given the chance.
And it seems we might have found an ally in our struggle - ships have come, similar to the Spanish ones, but with a different flag, of even whiter men, who say they are from the land of 'England', and avowed enemies of the Spanish. They say they come not to conquer, but to help us rid ourselves of the Spanish, and promise us weapons and secrets in exchange for the precious metals we dig from the bowels of the Earth. They tell us stories of the lands to the east, what they call 'Europe', and even of a land across the ocean, to where the Spanish send our silver to be exchanged for gifts, a land called 'Qin'. At the moment, they are hosted in Cusco, as guests of the Inca, as he reflects upon the meaning of all of this. Whatever is decided, one thing is certain - the war is not over, and it will never be over until the cursed Spanish are expelled from our lands, and from all places under the Sun. Their presence is intolerable and forever a danger.
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I don't know how coherent that text was, but you get the point. Manco Inca wins his rebellion and kicks out the Conquistadores, ending up with a restored Inca Empire that adapts rather well to the new inventions of warfare (apparently, the Neo-Inca State did very well in this regard, so I imagine what they could do with the full might of the Incas behind them)
I hope this is a large enough scale to fit the rules of the contest. It is certainly a major conflict in Incan perspective - it'd be an equivalent to an apocalyptical conflict, literally, for us. And the Inca Empire is in a decently good position to become a great power in South America here.
Overall, this map was really fun to do, because I got to experiment a lot with the textures, I got to put up roads, mountains and cities, and the frame just looks great. I sure do hope everyone likes it!
