the badlands [Lore] The Tenochtitlan Basin

[RarityDash]

The Tenochtitlan Basin - A Land of Ruins and Mystery

 

 

The Tenochtitlan Basin is a large, remote region within the area of the continent commonly referred to as the badlands. Located due north of the Roughrider Ridge and the Painted Pinto Desert, across the Forest of Leota, it is isolated from Greater Equestria by both forest and mountains. Because of this, few ponies are known to have visited the basin, and the line between what is myth and legend and what is fact has been blurred. Interest in the region by scholars, would be adventures and common enthusiasts of literature has been considerably piqued of late, however, as its history and legends have served as a foundation for the popular Daring Do series of novels by author A.K. Yearling.

 

The Basin is a historically autonomous region, that has never been regarded as a part of Equestria, Aquellia, the Crystal Empire or any other nation. In the ancient past, it was the site of a great Empire ruled over by a figure known as the Quetzalcoatl Empress, who was said to be a practitioner of dark magics, creating in her time a number of powerful magic artifacts that allowed her complete control of the ponies of the basin, who she put to work for her constructing numerous elaborate and ornate fortresses, temples and pyramids. The Quetzalcoatl empire collapsed some time thousands of years ago, though the exact details of its downfall are not known. Some of the area legends suggest that empress succumbed to her own greed and destroyed herself with one of her own spells, while other stories relate that some of the ponies she had enslaved to her dark cause rose up and struck her down in her sleep. Whatever the case, by the time Equestria was taking root as a great kingdom, the Quetzalcoatl Empire was already long gone.

 

Until recently, the Empress' dark imprint had remained on the basin in the form of her artifacts and their magic.Intense heat plagued the region and little was allowed to grow. For ages, scholars considered the region irrevocably cursed. This, combined with the isolated nature of the region, is thought to have kept the tribes of ponies who have inhabited the basin since the fall of the Empire relatively primitive. The ponies lived as nomads in the basin, traveling from water source to water source to find food and were forced to learn how to defend themselves against would be attackers. Tenochtitlan ponies are, unsurprisingly, far more aggressive than Equestrian ponies as a result. There are thought to be a number of tribes in the region, all with their different attitudes regarding the legends of the past and what they mean for the future.

 

According to recent accounts, the basin's climate has shifted considerably quite recently. This is thought to be the result of the exploits of anonymous adventurers who have recently taken interest in the region. The discovery of a relic known as the Amulet of Atonement, which when utilized projected a powerful dispelling magic referred to in legends as the Radiant Shield of Razdon, lead to the end of the Empresses long hold on the land. A fictionalized account of these events directly informed the plot of one of Yearling's novels. Since then, the region's climate has become considerably more hospitable, however, many of the natives still have lingering concerns over the region's future. The Rings of Scorchera, dark remnants of the Empresses magic are thought to be capable of dispelling the Radiant Shield when gathered at a ruin known as the Fortress of Talikon, while a popular prophecy of the natives foretells the rise of a monster king called Ahuizotl that would come to the basin and rule it for eight centuries. Both of these stories factor into Yearling's novels, the latter of which forms the basis of the Daring Do series' central antagonist.

~Canterlot Research Journal