Sakal Witz

Sakal Witz
Resplendent Mountain
Central plaza of Sakal Witz
Motto(s):  Through the pain, Learn
Country	Mutul
Yajawil	M'owitz
Kuchkabal	Sakal Witz
Government
• Type	Yajawil
• Body	Cloister of the Offices
Population  (2016)
• Metro	230,000
Demonym	Sak Witzom

Sakal Witz is a city located in M'owitz and is regarded as the oldest still inhabited location in the Mutul. It is located in a narrow valley, between 900 and 1400m above sea level, and possess one of the densest network of religious sites in the Divine Kingdom. Although its population year-round is only of around 200,000, visitors more than triple this number every year during the various pilgrimages organized by the city's authorities and its temples. Sakal Witz is thus regarded as one of the, if not the, most holy city in the White Path world.

Etymology

The name of the city derive from its glyph-emblem, with its first documented use dating back to around 1000 BC. A common misconception is to understand the name as meaning "White Mountain", but in Mutli, the suffix -al is not used for colors and the name would've simply be pronounced as "Sak Witz". However, while the glyph could be perfectly read that way, tradition as settled on Sakal because it distinguish the city from other White Mountains around the Mutul, but also because it precise the meaning of the glyph as either "resplendent" or "pure".

History

Early History

Cultural complexity started to appear in the Central Highlands of the Mutul around 3000 BCE. Native Hunter-Horticultors began to establish permanent settlements and abandon the nomadic lifestyle they had followed until then. This Proto-culture developed in parallel to, and was influenced by, the more western Chakb’ah culture. Sakal Witz itself was relatively isolated from these exchanges, and developed very slowly compared to neighboring city-states such as Kaminyajunlyu, Ujuxte, and Yajanite. However, signs of the religious importance of the city can still be found in the many sacred caverns of the valley, most of which are still regularly visited or have been upgraded into full Calendric Shrines. If the "Annals of the White Mountain" and its anonymous chroniclers are to be believed, the Paol'lunyu Dynasty was founded by, K'o, a Prince from Sakal Witz, when he conquered the economically important city of Kaminyajunlyu and proclaimed himself K'uhul Ajaw.

Monuments and ruins from the period attest of the close links between the Paol'lunyu and Sakal Witz. Many of the earliest pyramids and monumental architectures of the city were promoted by K'uhul Ajaws, Sakal Witz's nobility were among the Paol'lunyu most loyal and obedient vassals, and a large, hundred of kilometers long, straight Causaway linked the two cities directly. It is also documented at the Paol'lunyu Divine Lords acted as direct rulers of the White Mountain at multiple time, even if they ended up giving up their authority over the settlement to the High Priests of the White Mountain.

During the Nakabe Revolt, Sakal Witz was on the Paol'lunyu side at the battle of Xubih, and seems to have lost some of its most prestigious generals in the defeat, even if its Priest-Lord is not recorded among the captives taken by the Nakabeians. But it is also unclear if their ruler had directly participated in the battle in the first place. They were thus powerless to act against the Star War that overran the defenses of the Paol'lunyu capital and ended the first dynasty of the Mutul.

The King-Priests became allies of the Syhij and Hunal Dynasties in a defensive pact against Nakabe. But in 369 BC, a year after the fall of Kaminyajunlyu, they were defeated and forced to pay tribute to the Ka Dynasty, and even though the Highlands Campaign was ultimately repelled by the Hunal Dynasty and their Yaxhan allies, Sakal Witz would continue to pay tribute to the Nakabe K'uhul Ajaw until the very end of the war when Itzam K'an Ahk, Yajaw of Yux and de-facto leader of Izapak, managed to reconquer the city. It would take 10 more years to fully reconquer the Highlands, with Sakal Witz throwing its entire weight behind the new Yux and then Chaan Dynasty. It's in Sakal Witz that Yax Chaan Ahk, first K'uhul Ajaw of the Chaan, decided to be elevated to the condition of Divine Lord.

Under the Chaan, Sakal Witz was unable to restore its economic power and continued to lag behind other major settlements. However, the reputation of its Temples and Monasteries would continue to attract many bright minds and the city gained in prestige as a center of education and science, under the distant protection of the K'uhul Ajaw. Many priests trained and ordained in Sakal Witz would continue their careers as advisors and close councellors to the Divine Lords and its vassal kings.