By Alejandro Melchor (al168214@academ01.mty.itesm.mx)
Clan Huitzilopochtli's origin is lost in the middle of self-glorifing mythology. As its members claim, they are Huitzilopochtli's Chosen; the warriors who proved themselves so worthy that they form the army of their god. Huitzilopochtli was far from being a god, but he did Embrace those warriors he deemed worthy of his ranks, and promptly blood bonded them to him.
Huitzilopochtli was a priest of the wandering Mexica, a nomadic tribe that eventually settled in the Lake of Texcoco and founded Tenochtitlan. Many say he was actually Tenoch, the leader of these people, or Aacatl, the priest who gave the Aztecs warfare; but not even the Wyld Runners, the Garou that led the Mexica, are sure of this.
The god Huitzilopochtli was the patron of the Mexica, and his transition from a normal, unremarkable god to the warmonger and bloodthirsty figure he became is marked by Tenoch's (or whoever's) Embrace. The new vampire claimed to be the god Huitzilopochtli and demanded blood, and then human hearts.
As the Aztec prospered, Huitzilopochtli grew in power. He promptly diablerized his Sire and began to exert his influence over the rim of the Texcoco Lake. In the Triple Alliance of city-states that consolidated Tenochtitlan and the Aztec as a power, many discovered Huitzilopochtli's true nature, but did nothing further than breaking relations. Nezahualcoyotl, an Ehecatl Galliard who was prince of Texcoco, warned all Garou and Mages about this threat but the Ehecatl and the Sons of the Feathered Serpent were too busy locking horns with the Nahual and the Nightspawn, the Tlaloque and the Sorcerers of Quiet Gladness shared Aztec worship and were complacent, and the Wyld Runners didn't care, so Huitzilopochtli ruled unchallenged.
The only opposition came from the Mictlan, the New World equivalent of the Camarilla, a collection af vampires of different creeds and power, who traced their origin to Mictlacihuatl, consort to the God of the Deads' Realm.
Huitzilopochtli had a ghoul: Tlacaelel, a general who was much the power behind the Aztec throne in obedience to his Sire's wishes. Soon, the expansionist desire revealed that Huitzilopochtli was insane, and very bloodthirsty too, for he raised his quota of blood by fighting the Florid Wars, battles meant only for gathering sacrificial victims. The Mictlan participated in these Wars too, backing other city states, so that they wouldn't have to hunt.
War was the primary concern of the insane vampire, and so, through Tlacaelel, he created the Eagle Knights, an order of warriors, as a breeding lot of new vampires as much as an elite of warriors. They were the best fighters and some of them were ghouls of priests, waiting to be embraced.
Although thwarted to his desires to the Aztec throne by Nezahualcoyotl, Tlacaelel's cunning prevented for years the collapsing of the Aztec Empire from the Mictlan's schemes and the Nahuals' bids for power and, realizing that Huitzilopochtli had no intentions of Embracing him (he was too useful as a ghoul), he reached outwards. He somehow managed to contact the european Kindred and convinced them that this was a land ripe for conquest, and so the Conquest began and concluded when im 1525, Hernan Cortes conquered Tenochtitlan.
Now, Huitzilopochtli was powerful enough to hold back and actually defeat Cortes' army, but the Spaniards had the help of the Mictlan and the Tlaxcaltecan cities it governed, along with the help of Clan Ventrue, the Celestial Chorus and, secretly, the Technocracy. Against this coalition army, not even the mexican Bete's and Magi's help could resist long, and the forces of the Inquisition hunted for every supernatural and nearly annihilated all of Clan Huitzilopochtli.
Nowadays, members of the Clan are rising from Torpor and, though a little disoriented, they are finding their way into Kindred politics, as allies of the Sabbat, although they plan to betray them and exterminate them as soon as they have reached the peak of their power and found and awakened Huitzilopochtli, who still remains in Torpor in an unknown place.
It's important to point out that the Huitzilopochtli have declared a Blood Hunt on Tlacaelel, and will not rest until they diablerize him.
The Camarilla: Invaders of our realm, our Anahuac. They have been forced out of our lands for now, but we will not forget what they have done to what is ours.
"Vampires who serve the sun? Just by the sound of it, I think they'll take care of themselves for us."
The Sabbat: They pretend to understand what the Beast inside is. We will show them, just in time for them to see us tear out their withered hearts.
"Vicious creatures if ever there were ones. Beware of their powers, for dark forces hover about them."
The Inconnu: They match us in the power of their blood, but these 'neutral' observers are hiding something sinister.
"The cruelty of the Sabbat and the plottings of the Camarilla. Never a more frightening combination. Keep all observers clear of these ones."