Nuact'l Military

To describe the Nuact’a at war is to illustrate the different tenets which have been described above. The first is quipatilizque. Though the Hatun Ayllu may raise an army to go to war against some threat, unless the proper supplications and observances are made, the generals of the army may take the army and return to home.

Indeed, at one point in their history, a young Ichma'a hatun ayllu named Quauhtli summoned the Ichma'a host to invade what he saw as a weakened Schamak Empire. Angered at what he saw was delay on the part of his generals, he seized the city of Markal. When his reinforcements arrived in two days, he demanded them to enter the city immediately without the standard rituals of a public meal and the lavish gifts being given to the generals as quipatilizque. Offended by the young hatun's lack of respect and consideration, the generals turned around and headed home. Meanwhile, the Schamak army came to retake Markal and caused Quauhtli to flee with the majority of his own forces slaughtered in the retreat.

Another principle is the unity of the Children of the Moon. In the long history of the Kingdoms, there is no known example of one Ayllu waging war against another. Disagreements abound in the oral tradition, but they are solved through diplomacy or special games of YehiTlacatl with teams formed of the best players of each Kingdom.

The last factor which strongly affects the armies of Nuact’l is the taboo against mining. This means that there are no metal weapons or armour in the armies of Nuact’l. That said, there are many surface deposits of obsidian which, though brittle, has an edge sharper than surgical steel. Thus, wickedly sharp spears, axes and arrow-heads dominate the arsenal of the Kingdoms, whereas there is rarely armour beyond a jerkin of quilted cotton.

The general lack of armour and heavy weapons have led the Nuact’a to rely more upon opportunistic attacks, small unit tactics and raids than a standard army. For defense, the rugged terrain and harsh climate (and high altitude) do more than a thousand legionnaires could.