Huac

Huac is the peninsula forming Tamoanchan's northern reaches, a country of rough mountains, hostile deserts and thin strips of coastal lowland, parts of which are dense jungle. Water surrounds it, with the Sea of Anahuac on the east and the Elysium Sea on the west, and only in the south does it join the continent; the island of Tamawa to the north is usually counted part of it. Now empty of people, it teems with often dangerous wildlife: snakes, tarantulas, lizards, scorpions, vultures and coyotes in the deserts; ocelots, pumas, peccaries, jaguars and bears in the mountains; deer, lynx, hare and armadillo on the plains; and in the jungles abundant life, especially mosquitoes, leeches and other pests.

A thriving civilization once lived here. Legend says it predated Atlantis and was already fading as the first Atlanteans looked beyond their homeland. All that remains are ruined cities and ceremonial complexes which, like those of Ulloa, are reputedly haunted by old magic and weird creatures and to hold unimaginable treasure. No one knows who these people were or what became of them. Scholars and treasure-hunters who have visited a few cities think they were human, or at least human-sized and shaped, since their buildings and tools suit people perfectly. They loved beauty, carving sculptures from single giant flawless emeralds and making many smaller treasures of gems, gold and jade; roses, jaguars, serpents and other animals were favorite subjects.

In the First Age, Atlantis drew up grand plans to colonize Huac: trade havens on the Elysium Sea routes, hemp farms for rope and hashish, emerald, silver and lead mines, and a small colony on Tamawa to quarry serpentine from a vast coastal cliff made almost wholly of that stone. The land was divided into districts named for planned settlements, still shown on Atlantean maps: Ahuachapan, Managua, Michuacan, Oaxaca, Ocalahuacon, Sinaloa, Tacuba and Tenango. Some ruins were explored, but as Atlantean power declined only a few settlements were begun: hemp farms in Michuacan and Oaxaca and small silver and lead mines in Ahuachapan.

Tenango and Tacuba hold the most impressive ruins, Ocalahuacon and Ahuachapan the most puzzling. Most include great step-pyramids, big monoliths and enormous statues, long overgrown with vines and creepers, which makes exploring them dangerous even without the evil creatures and other guardians said to dwell there. Two ruined cities, Tamistitan and Achamaho, are especially famous among scholars and adventurers; vast and imposing, neither has ever been fully explored.