Tlazoteotl
| Tlazoteotl | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Portfolio: | Earth Mother, Agriculture, Nature |
| Home: | A parallel Prime Material Plane |
| Alignment: | Neutral |
| Gender: | Female |
| Class: | Cleric 14/druid 14/magic-user 15/illusionist 25/assassin 15/bard 15 |
| Superior: | Ometeotl |
| Rules items | |
| Domains: | Animal, Community, Earth, Plant, Water |
Tlazoteotl is the mother goddess of the earth in the Olman pantheon. Her symbol is an ear of corn.
In the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, a gibbering mouther is identified with Tlazoteotl. In the first edition of Deities & Demigods and Second Edition Legends & Lore, the goddess is called Tlazolteotl, goddess of guilty loves, bodily pleasure, and vice. In the two latter books, she is identified as chaotic evil, and her symbol is an ocelot totem or a red serpent's head.
Description
When the goddess is under stress, rushed, or under attack, she manifests as a monster with a humanoid body, fiendish face, fangs, blazing eyes, talons on her feet and hands, and black, warty skin, slick with grease. This is an illusion, however, and when she is relaxed or at ease she appears as a beautiful woman, inspiring jealousy and lust in equal measure, but fifteen feet tall. She is scantily clad, revealing as much of her charms as possible.
She is described as an eater of filth and a sinister temptress who seeks to ruin lawful good beings. She does not fight except with spells, and will teleport away rather than resort to physical combat. No evil being may even think of harming her, even if magically compelled to do so.
Relationships
Tlazoteotl is the sister of Tezcatlipoca. She helped trick Quetzalcoatl into getting drunk and debasing himself, an act that led to his exile.
Realm
According to Legends & Lore (1990), the Aztecs, whose gods are often also Olman gods, believe in a "world above" and a "world below." The world below is the home of the dead.
Deities & Demigods (1980) says that all of the Central American gods dwell on a parallel Prime Material Plane. The Scarlet Brotherhood (1999) says that the Olman gods were originally worshipped on a parallel world, while the errata for that book (originally available on the TSR website) says that they still dwell there.
Worshippers
Clergy
Priestesses of Tlazolteotl are tasked with exposing those of a base and immoral character by tempting them into indecent acts. Every three months (at the least) they must tempt a man into a guilty love. They subsist on garbage, filth, and offal. Their favored weapon is the sickle, and they may also wield poisoned daggers.
As with most Olman priests, priestesses of Tlazoteotl must choose a direction to pray to at the beginning of their careers. Clerics of the east wear red, clerics of the south wear yellow, clerics of the west wear black, and clerics of the north wear white.
Temples
Olman temples are usually step pyramids with entrances at the bottom corresponding to the four points of a compass.
Rituals and holy days
Rituals to the Olman deities are typically performed every 20 days, corresponding to the various "signs" of the divinatory calendar. Each sign is ruled by a different deity. Sacrifices may take many forms, depending on the god. The public is required to attend every ritual, held at the temple of the appropriate god.
Publishing history
Tlazoteotl is mentioned briefly in the title of a gibbering mouther encounter in The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, and identified as the mother goddess of the earth. She appears as Tlazolteotl, the goddess of vice, in Deities & Demigods and Legends & Lore. Steven Conforti's Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities details her mother-goddess aspect, assigning her the portfolio, domains, favored weapon, and alignment used above. The poisoned dagger weapon use is from Legends & Lore. Dragon #352 spells her name Tlazoteotl, but identifies her as the wicked goddess of vice.
Bibliography
- Conforti, Steven, ed. Living Greyhawk Official Listing of Deities for Use in the Campaign, version 2.0. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2005. Available online:[1]
- Johnson, Harold, and Jeff R. Leason. The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.
- Reynolds, Sean K. The Scarlet Brotherhood. Renton, WA: TSR, 1999.
- Schwartz, David. "Aztec Mythos I." Dragon #352. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2007.
- Ward, James and Troy Denning. Legends & Lore. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990.
- Ward, James and Robert J. Kuntz. Deities & Demigods. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1980.