Tzak Latk'in Chaac

Tzak Latk'in Chaac
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Smilodon Knight
In office 1245–1291
Patriarch of the K'uwe
In office 1255–1261
Captain of the Smilodon Knights
In office 1256–1261
Auxiliary Knight
In office 1263–1265
Commander of the Auxiliaries
In office 1265 – ???
Magister Millitum Occidentalis
In office 1291–1291
Personal details
Born	Mutul
Nickname	Smilodon Lord
Military service
Allegiance	Latium
Branch/service	Latin Army
Years of service	1263 - 1291
Rank	Commander of the Auxiliary Master of Soldiers of the West
Unit	Legio X
Battles/wars	Latin-Audonians Wars

Tzak Latk’in Chaac, also known by his nickname of the Smilodon Lord or the Smilodon Prince (Latin : Smilodon Princeps) was an High ranking Officer of the Knights Order of the Smilodon, a Mutulese general, and then after the Battle of the Akanos, a Latin Captain. He is the first known Mutli in Belisaria, and was famed for his staunch loyalty,ethic standard, military prowess, and death wish. He was notably the first to introduce Mutuleses concepts and a better understanding of the Mutul’s society and ethics in Latium. An important source of information on the life of Tzak Latk’in Chaac is the work of Father Gaius, a Fabrian Monk who worked, fruitlessly, toward converting the Mutulese general to christianism, but also recorded in his diary most of his daily interactions with him. These detailed records gave birth to a plethora of plays, books, movies, and generally a pop-culture aura to Tzak Latk’in Chaac. He’s notably, falsely, credited with the introduction of the custom of suicide by hanging in Belisaria.

Early life

Tzak Latk’in Chaac was born on XX in the House of Q’uma, an important K’iche family. Tzak Latk’in received very early on an important physical education, being trained to martial arts and to the art of warfare. He was especially remarked in his Nawi (school for the aristocracy) for his strength, faith, and military cunning. Once adult, he was invited to join the Knight Order of the Smilodon, where he served with as a knight-servant for his uncle. At the death of his father, he inherited his ranks and honors, becoming a full fledged Knight, and Captain of the Divine Throne.

In service of the Mutul

Tzak Latk’in Chaac was summon by Tecuman the Great to serve as a Captain of his army during the Belfrasian Crusade. As part of the Vanguard, he and his Smilodon Knights were part of the elite troops of the Mutulese army, and were at first used as shock troopers to break Latin formations. Because of the permanent threat of the Latins heavy cavalry, Tzak Latk’in Chaac’s Smilodon Knights were transferred to the left flank of the Mutulese army, and managed to hold back the Imperial Cavalry in battle. Notably as described by the Latin knight XX :

“They have swords of this kind — of wood made like a two-handed sword, but with the hilt not so long; about three fingers in breadth. The edges are grooved, and in the grooves they insert stone knives, that cut like a Toledo blade. I saw one day one of their knights fighting with a mounted man, and the knight gave the horse of his antagonist such a blow in the breast that he opened it to the entrails, and it fell dead on the spot. And the same day I saw another of their warrior give another horse a blow in the neck, that stretched it dead at his feet.”

Despite his bravery, having killed many knights and captured many other, often being credited with having taken four prisoner in one battle, but with little to no evidence to back it up, he was captured at the Battle of the Akanos and brought to the Imperial camp, along with other prisoners.

The legend say that the Latins tried to ransom him, but to no avail. To this, Tzak Latk’in Chaac was very surprised, and demanded that the Latins “brought him to their god” to be “sacrificed honorably”. When he was told that it was not the way of the christians to do human sacrifices and that it was forbidden by the Bible, Tzak covered his face with his smilodon’s skin and wept. “Once he discovered his face, no tear where to be found and he seemed as grand and lordly as he was before, standing proudly before his captors. “My life is yours, Easterlings, do as you wish. But know this, it is now my doom to die for the gods, either on the altar, or on the battlefield. And I shan’t have it any other way.”

It was finally decided that Tzak Latk’in Chaac and other Mutuleses captives would be brought back to Belisaria as war trophy. <imgur thumb="yes" w="250" comment="Tzak Latk'in Chaac going to war, drawing at the Q'uma Palace, Q'umarkaj">a7HIzkv.jpg</imgur>

In service of the Latium

It’s in a private meeting following the Triumph where Tzak Latk’in and other captured Mutuleses soldiers were showed to the population along other war trophies that the Empress Empress Theodora I decided to take the Smilodon Knight as a captain of the auxiliaries in her legions.

First Campaign

The Belfrasian crusade,despite its success, placed the Latin Empire in a dire situation in Belisaria. It was now weakened, only starting to slowly repay the many loans it had to take in order to finance the Crusade, and the decision of devaluating the sesterii to better pay for the shipping of troops through the Thalassian Ocean, and the following fluctuations, made the political situation harder to manage, with notably the Senate demanding the end of the Exceptional War Taxes, and the cities making themselves the spokeperson of the traders and artisans by demanding the return of a stable sesterii. On the demands of the people, Theodora I managed kept a low, fluctuating sesterii by re-starting the coinage halfway through the war of the Solidus, with a fixed and known value of gold, which satisfied the demand of the plebes for a stable money. Once the war was over, she fixed the value of the Sesterii to the Solidus, finally ending a period of high financial instability. However, to the demands of the Senate, Theodora had promised the end of the exceptional taxes when the Crusade will be over. By the year 1262, she had yet to make good on her promise.

The Holy Audonian Empire, rival of the re-emerging Latin Empire in Belisaria at the time, decided to profit of this temporary weakness of the Latium economy and the political instability caused by the taxes and debts, to start a new war with them by pushing forward their claims on X. The goal of the war, more than to actually obtain the claimed territories and rights, was to worsen the situation of the Latium, both politically and economically, by forcing them into an early war, before the new Norumbian territories could start strengthening the Latium.

Therefore, Tzak Latk’in Chaac had only arrived for a few months in Belisaria and joined the auxiliaries of the Legions, that he was already sent with the rest of the Imperial legions to stop the raids and razziah of the Audonians at the border. This is what Father Gaius had to say about the “Smilodon Prince” during this campaign :

“While he was now equipped like a greek [tn : an auxiliary], he kept above his chainmail his the smilodon skin he had wore when shown to the people during the Triumph. He had tucked away his stone sword, because he now lacked the obsidian to repair it, and traded it for a straight sword and a spear. Despite his official recognition as a knight of a faraway country, he had nothing but mistrust toward horses, and categorically refused to ride them, preferring to walk along the mercenaries and footsoldiers. Despite the harsh forced march his Legion was under, he always stood to the front of his unit, and never once a centurion or a captain had to hit him to force him to march on. In fact, when the Legion was finally stopping to rest, at noon or for the night, he would be the only one among the auxiliaries to still look fresh and well rested. The lack of horse and pack animals in his lands gave the Men of the Occident exceptional endurance, and among these men, he had been a mighty prince.”

Despite always going forward, never leaving the frontline, or accepting every dangerous and sometime suicidal missions, Tzak Latk’in survived the war. His apparent complete dedication to the cause of the Latin Empire, his valour, and his exotic beast-like appearance, started to win him renown among the Legionaries. “Once the war was over and he covered himself with honors” say Father Gaius, “He looked toward the battlefield and cried. For he did not die yet. And in the names of the gods, he versed his own blood on the ground, as a demand for forgiveness to his bloodthirsty idols, far away across the ocean.”

Second Campaign

Two year later, Tzak Latk’in’s wish for more battle would be answered, as it was Theodora this time who, to maintain the exceptional taxes as a challenge to the Senate, decided to start a war against the Audonians, now that the legions in Belisaria were at full capacity, and the Trans-Thalassian trade network was once again profitable and paying for the Latium’s loans. In this campaign, Tzak Latk’in was promoted to Commander of the Auxiliaries of the Legio X. This second campaign was the occasion for him to prove his worth not only as a knight, but also as a commander. He led multiple successful raids against the Audonians, devastating their countryside.

In spite his boldness and savagery, always on the frontline with his men, Tzak Latk’in Chaac managed to survive and return to Castellum alive for a second triumph. Reluctant to end the war, Theodora I nonetheless signed the Treaty of X ending the conflict between the Latin Empire and the HAE, in 1271.

Assassination attempt

Because of his success, popularity with the mercenaries and “Auxiliaries”, and favours of the Empress who treated him “like a pet, a savage cat one managed to tame, a war trophy”, Tzak Latk’in Chaac made numerous enemies with our without his knowledge, especially among the officers of the auxilliaries -as he was a direct competition for them-, the senates -because his strong deathwish meant he kept supporting the Empress in her wars- and many courtesans who needed no other reasons than jalousy to wish the death of the Mutulese knight.

A Conspiracy was formed, and in XX, Tzak was aggressed in the middle of the street while he was on some unknown errands, by three masked assassins. This attempt in broad daylight proved unsuccessful, as the Smilodon Knight is said to have killed one of this aggressor, and gravely wounded a second. He was himself wounded multiple time during the assault, and had to be brought back in urgence to the Imperial Palace to be treated. Medical records seems to indicate that he spent the following three days in a “feverish madness”, before finally being healed.

Death

In 1291, 30 years after his capture, Tzak Latk’in Chaac was made Western Master of the Soldiers, tasked with the direction of all the legions and troops of the Empire in Norumbia. He reluctantly agreed to the promotion, having slowly accepted that he will never find an honorable death in battle.

Once the winds were allowing for it, Tzak Latk’in Chaac set sailed to Norumbia, alongside three recently recruited legions to reinforce the Empire’s border in the vast wildlands. However, a sudden storm befell on the fleet once they arrived near Cordosia and the amiral ship was separated from the rest. The shipwreck was found a few days later, with half of the crew and passengers having survived, but Tzak Latk’in Chaac was nowhere to be found, even among the bodies. From the testimony of one of the crew members, the Master of Soldiers started to act oddly when the storm had appear, seemingly both afraid and excited at it’s sight, mumbling about forgiveness to something called “Tchak” and then incanting in his old mother tongue. When the waves caught him, the last thing the crew saw was Tzak Latk’in Chaac being carried always further away from the ship by the enraged sea, and, in his testimony one of the sailor swore the winds was bringing back “the distinct and unmistakable sounds of laughters”.

See also

• Belfrasian Crusade