Many such mine eyes have seen;
O’er them all the crown thou bearest.
Think what wonders here have been!
O’er the angel hosts a king;
Was not that a wondrous thing?
Town Plaza, Tcotxeni, Kingdom of Tcotxeni
Middle April
The combined inhabitants of the city of Tcotxeni were kneeled on the flattened grass that lay along the sides of the recently built plaza, a great brick and concrete square with round shape, just a bit over two millixa in diameter. It was decorated for the occasion. Children ran around behind those kneeling within the circle, giggling as they shouted the word ‘dictator’ which was so strange to them, words uttered by Masawa, as that was to be his new appointed title according to himself; Dictator of Tcotxeni. Within the circle in which they all sat and kneeled around was the King to be, Masawa himself, heir to Chieftain Irepani and the person most influenced by Sacwa’an’s ideals. Around his torso sat a forest green tunic and chlamys, made with dye bought from villages up the river but currently unreplicable by the people of Tcotxeni, as well as various Meztil ornaments and decorations that Irepani had worn.
After a bit of conversing and tiring, the children were called to the circle with their parents. Sacwa’an and several other Sanctists sat nearly in front of Masawa, just barely off center due to the path that led to the plaza being off limits seating wise.
When everyone was comfortably seated a large wooden box was carried by two of the villages warriors around the circle slowly. It had been village tradition for donations for the gods as well as to the luck of the new chieftain to be placed within a large wood or hash box and then for that box to be burned on a large fire while the village entered a session of sacrificial prayer towards the gods, especially the goddess Pehaume, the goddess of birth, fertility, and new beginnings. After the box had gone around, filled halfway with donations ranging from hand made dolls to tools to, just recently, poetry or notes, the box was placed onto a large pile of sticks in front of Masawa and then lit with a burning stick into a large, beautiful inferno.
After prayer was over Sacwa’an was called by Masawa to come up to him past the now extinguished fire. Some of the villagers were part way through getting up when Sacwa’an was called, usually when a new chieftain was declared feasting would begin after the prayer. Whatever was happening was completely foreign and not disclosed to them. They slowly stayed down and attentively watched.
Sacwa’an stopped a decillixaa or so in front of Dictatorat Masawa I who sat kneeled onto a small, raised platform in the form of a collection of logs that had been strapped together, maybe two or so feet tall from the ground. Masawa held his hand upwards, gesturing Sacwa’an to open the box. Inside was a crown made to the best of the abilities of those who worked the city forge, including Shanaran, Iadana, and Sacwa’an. The crown was made of an alloy called ‘Kaxtimpote,’ or ‘black gold,’ by those who had made it at the forge. A mix of Meztil, Silver, and Gold it produced a deep black metal that was easy to mold. The crown was decorated with Jade found in the mountains and decorated with Turqoise. The crown was made as a gift to Masawa’s reign, and was planned ahead before the celebrations.
Sacwa’an placed the crown onto the head of Masawa I, Dictator of Tcotxeni, and then bowed.
Tcotxeni Terminology