PALACE OF THE JAGUAR PRINCESS

 



Hook: The old slate stairway meanders up the rock face, its wide and deep slabs damp and lichen-covered. You have barely begun your ascent when something makes the hair on the back of your neck rise... A chill runs down your spine and you can't help feeling like a prey animal... Your eyes dart here and there, sweeping the jungle canopy, overhead, every sound pronounced as adrenaline heightens your senses. You peer across the stream fed by the crashing falls just ahead. Nothing but the rock face, but, you can't help feeling spied upon. In front of you, crystal clear water spills from the looming maw of the massive, square, stylised likeness of a fierce feline predator. It lands with concussive force in a pool far below it. Sharp teeth, fangs, have been carved from the very rocks, lining upper and lower jaws to increase the sense that you are about to become food for some hunter hiding among the lush growth of the forest. It's then you see, high up on the cliff face to your right, both directly above you, and ahead and above you, the lithe forms of large, spotted felines... Stocky and well-muscled, built for power, they stare down at you from wide, near-glowing orbs with passive amusement. Then, ahead of you on the stair, before it rounds the corner of the cliff, sits a silent copy of the cats you saw above... It blinks once then disappears up the path. You look at one another... At the darkness of the feline maw gaping from the termination in the narrow gulch. Either way, you are going to be consumed, you think... By stone or by flesh, unless you are careful... You have the sense that you have only seen a fraction of the animals present... Even the birds have ceased to sing, here... Only cats. Only hunters... The locals said as much, when they pointed you toward the home of their tyrannical leader, The Jaguar Princess. Her palace lay at the headwater of the local river, they said, where it spills from the rocks where the gorge ends. You're not sure what to do, but, decided a frontal assault was likely the best course, or, perhaps parley, if the Princess would be willing... The villagers were skeptical...

Details: The Jaguar Princess is a ruthless and savage person who dwells in the deep jungles of the South East. She rules her small tribe of people with strength and passion, but, few see her without great need. She has only a handful of fearful servants, all younger women who are ritually devoured by the cats, when they reach 30 summers. A male priest lives in the complex. The only male allowed to in the Princess's presence, regularly. He mates with her, in ritual, in the guise of the Jaguar God, Oceluatl. He raises one of his male heirs to take his place. The rest of their children are sent to the villages to be cared for. The Princess, herself, is immortal, and feeds on sacrifices from the villages. Every five years, youths, young women, one from each village, are chosen for her, as tax, to devour so she might stay young forever. She has lorded over the land for millennia, and none have been able to conquer her, or throw down her tyranny... The locals who help any characters will want them to do something about her. They will, of course, disavow any knowledge of this, in case the plan is discovered... Jaguar are the Princess's only real companions. They wander the grounds, freely, and kittens are constantly at the Princess's feet or in her lap. They use the caves to watch the stair, and perch on the flat, carved platform overlooking the stair from the entry to the palace, the two platforms flanking the Princess's throne, and the watch point to the west. The palace is rich with jade, mosaics made from precious stones depicting sacrifices and jaguar hunting the forest and battling one another, as well as people, and a shrine to Oceluatl can be found inside, in a large chamber similarly decorated. The jungle canopy hangs heavy and wet, overhead, shrouding the massive jaguar maw jutting from the stone (originally laboured over by slaves the Princess demanded build her edifice, long ago...). Most of the entries are arched portals with skins from prey animals covering them. Any 'doors' are reed mats hung up from the lintel. The palace's halls are low-ceilinged (about 7'), and flat, for the short Tezcatlipocans, but, the throne room of the complex is high (about 30').

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