Primero Traditions

Pan-Primero:
While the central regions of Anova are multivarious and diverse, a few key elements remain consistent across the region.

Deities
Anima’Kaqulja: Known by many names, the Heart of Thunder, is a god of storms, sorcery, shadows, and jaguars. It’s usually depicted as a figure of ambiguous gender made of rolling storm clouds often with a bottom left limb made of obsidian or jade and an accompaniment of jaguars. According to the Chiché peoples, they are the chief deity of the world and a creator of the universe gaining associations with royalty and power, while to the Najáli, they took on a more masculine and destructive aspect being seen as a god of chaos and destruction as Capoltiyolli. The oddest form of Anima’Kaqulja is their Dovah form, a large and majestic hawk-like creature colloquially referred to as the Animikii, or the King of the Thunderbirds, where it’s less associated with creation and anthropozised elements.

Huehecacoatl: The Great Wind Serpent, a mighty leader of the dragons, is a god associated with culture, language, wind, and creation. Most depictions show a winged serpent, coated in multi-colored feathers and thick armor-plating along the skull mimicking the skull of a triceratops with gnarled, mangled, teeth. In Najáli, Dovah, and Chiché traditions, Huehecacoatl is a creator god and defender of humanity who is said to have left Anova to search for the world for answers to humanities questions. In Dovah tradition, Huehecacoatl is known as Wuko-Taaho, while in Chiché he is known as Nim Kumaq’ij.

Deities
Teocitalli: Revered as a psychopomp and god of death and undeath, hounds, and lightning, Teocitalli is depicted as a large hound made of the skeletons of a mass grave stitched together by purple bands of lightning and adorned with a necklace of quetzal feathers and human skulls. It’s large, clawed, paws are flipped backwards making it appear as if the great beast is always walking backwards. Common belief holds that Teocitalli is Huehecacoatl’s familiar or even his Totem, the animal aspect of a person that those known as Nagual can transform into.

Mooquichitoa: As the patron deity of Texcutlan and the Toskitec, Mooquichitoa’s worship spread across the Triumvirate and he had a variety of temples built in his honor. Often depicted as a middle-aged man in a Toskitec warrior’s attire and war paint of green and red. In one hand, he holds a macuahuitl etched with odd hieroglyphs, in the other an atlatl holding a large serpent instead of a spear. Mooquichitoa is the son of Coatlinantli, brother of Huehecacoatl, god of war, and guardian of the sun.

Oquixipeuhque: Oquixipuehque, colloquially referred to as the Flayed or Husked Goddess, is a deity of the harvest, maize, and medicine. She is illustrated as a younger woman symbolically wearing the flayed skin of an older woman with an ear of corn in one hand and a stone hoe in the other.

Tzompolihui: One of the most important deities to the Toskitec, Tzompolihui was venerated at the Templo Grande for his important role in bringing water to the people. Depicted as a semi-submerged amphibious half-frog half-man creature wearing jadeite goggles and accompanied by a hoard of crocodiles, Tzompolihui is the god of rain, lakes, streams and rivers, and amphibians and aquatic reptiles.

Coatlinantli: Revered as the mother of the Najáli pantheon, Coatlinantli is the goddess of nature, the earth, reptiles, and motherhood. Her depictions on stone altars, are of a woman with a human top half and two serpents for legs, she has saber-teeth and snake eyes. She has a belt of human skulls that symbolize her need for blood sacrifice in order to satiate her hunger.

Deities
Kik’nan: One of the Chiché's more monstrous gods, Kik'nan is gargantuan bat creature with domain over the night, bats, sacrifice, and death. Occasionally, Kik'nan will be depicted as a red-haired human woman with long fangs an affinity for drinking the blood of her victims. Kik'nan also appears in tales like the Chiché Origin Song, where they are used in the Chuy Kämikal's plans to defeat the Juk'ulaj Yox in their fateful ball game.

Chuy Kämikal: The Chuy Kämikal are a collection of lesser gods, depicted as a myriad of vaguely monstrous humanoids, that appear to be lead by two currently unnamed chief death gods, an upside down skeletal depiction of Anima'Kaquljia and a diseased man with many weapons and variety of hunting tools. These gods preside over death, disease, and the Underworld. In their most famous tale, the Chiché Origin Song, the Chuy Kämikal attempted to defeat the Juk'ulaj Yox in a ball game, however they ultimately lost due to the cleverness of their opponents.

Juk'ulaj Yox: Descended from a mortal man and the daughter of one of the Chuy Kämikal, the heroic twins, Balam and Han Ahua, referred to as the Juk'ulaj Yox, are gods associated with trickery, the ball game, the sun and moon, and heroics. They were originally only demigods, however, after their legendary defeat of the Chuy Kämikal, they were elevated to god hood. They are represented as a young man with tattoos and a bow (Han Ahua) and a young man wearing a jaguar skin and warrior's headress (Balam).

Ik'Kemonel: Depicted as an older woman with a jaguar skin dress and jade ornamentation, her eyes appear almost as crescent moons, and she carries a variety of herbs and elixirs. Ik'Kemonel is the goddess of the moon, midwives, and medicine, and is commonly invoked in modern medicinal practices and childbirths.

Nan-Melel: Nan-Melel is a less well-represented Chiché goddess and is often depicted in a multitude of forms; including a woman with a shark fins, gills, and slitted eyes, a lightning cloud with a quetzal bird atop it, and a half-shark, half-jaguar creature with eyes like fire. She has domains over the sea, sailing, and fish

Dieties
Mactoqlö: Mactoqlö is a spirit or kachina depicted as a two-spirit person with the head of mountain lion and a small arsenal of weapons in their employ. One side of their body is painted a stark white and the other a jet black. They are the spirit most associated with the hunt, the north, and predatory animals.

Angwúuti: Angwúuti is a kachina often shown more as a culture hero than a spirit. She travels from town to town across the deserts of Casas Grandes and shares her songs and stories, bringing her host of ravens that carry messages from lover to lover and friend to friend. She is also invoked in childbirth and by people hoping to charm the idol of their affection. She is depicted as a woman in a ceremonial dance costume that resembles a raven, crow, or other blackbird, mostly in blacks and blues. Angwúuti is associated with motherhood, love, song and dance, and communication and travel.

Huukyangw-Taaqa: Huukyangw-Taaqa is a kachina that resembles an elder man with a cloud of beards and a face painted with a different color for each direction in the traditional medicine wheel style (top clockwise; black, red, blue, yellow). He is the eldest kachina and is considered to be the father of the Dovah Third Tribe, he also is the chief of the Seasons Ritual, which begins the new year. Huukyangw-Taaqa, has domain over all of nature, the earth, and the seasons/time.

Kookyangwayu: Kookyangwayu, or the Woman of Spiders, is the kachina that presides over creation, humanity, caves, and spiders. She is depicted either as a large monstrous black tarantula with the head of a woman with jet black hair, or as a woman with black skin and purple eyes and hair. Kookyangwayu is accredited with creation of the world and the first humans out of clay.

Sakwa-Hano: Kachina of rituals, plays, and comedies, Sakwa-Hano is the chief of the Ritual Clowns that were common in Dovah culture and dances. He is represented as a man in a large clay mask and jangling outfit who has a variety of spiraling designs.