Ethnogenesis
History
Who Were the Mayans?
The Mayans of the Classic period created one of humanity's most remarkable civilizations in an unlikely setting — the dense tropical forests of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras. Where outsiders saw impenetrable jungle, the Maya built cities of limestone pyramids, palaces, and plazas that housed tens of thousands. They developed the only fully literate culture in the pre-Columbian Americas, recording history, astronomy, and prophecy in elaborate hieroglyphic texts. Their mathematicians independently invented the concept of zero; their astronomers tracked Venus with an accuracy that European science would not match for centuries. Yet this brilliant civilization remained politically fragmented — dozens of competing city-states locked in perpetual rivalry, their rulers obsessed with warfare, sacrifice, and the cosmic cycles that governed all existence.
Homeland and Way of Life
The Maya lowlands presented challenges that demanded ingenuity. Thin soils over limestone bedrock, seasonal drought despite heavy annual rainfall, and dense forest cover made agriculture difficult. The Maya responded with sophisticated techniques: raised fields in swampy areas, terracing on hillsides, forest gardens that mixed useful trees with annual crops. Maize remained the staff of life, supplemented by beans, squash, cacao, and forest products. The limestone that underlay everything provided building material for their monuments and created the cenotes — natural sinkholes reaching underground water — that served as both water sources and sacred portals to the underworld.
Cities rose throughout the lowlands, each controlling surrounding agricultural territory and competing with neighbors for prestige and resources. Tikal, Calakmul, Palenque, Copán — these and dozens of others maintained courts of scribes, priests, and warriors, their populations supported by tribute and trade.
Warfare, Power, and Limits
Maya warfare served religious as much as political purposes. Kings needed captives for sacrifice — blood offerings that maintained cosmic order and demonstrated divine favor. Campaigns timed by astronomical observations sought to capture enemy nobles whose ritual deaths would enhance the victor's prestige. Warriors fought with obsidian-tipped spears, clubs, and atlatls; without metal, horses, or wheeled transport, armies remained limited in range and duration. Wars destroyed rival cities but rarely achieved lasting conquest — the jungle swallowed abandoned centers while survivors rebuilt elsewhere.
Political authority centered on divine kings — ahau — who mediated between human and supernatural realms through bloodletting rituals and visionary trances. Their power, though theoretically absolute, depended on military success and noble support. Dynasties rose and fell; cities enjoyed centuries of dominance before sudden collapse.
Beliefs, Customs, and Society
Maya religion permeated every aspect of existence. The cosmos comprised multiple layers of heaven and underworld, populated by gods who required constant propitiation. Time itself was sacred — the interlocking calendars that tracked solar years, ritual cycles, and vast cosmic ages determined when to plant, when to wage war, when to crown kings. Priests maintained astronomical observations across generations, predicting eclipses and planetary conjunctions with remarkable accuracy. Human sacrifice, particularly of high-status captives, fed the gods and maintained cosmic balance. Kings pierced their own flesh to offer blood, experiencing visions that connected them to ancestors and deities.
Hieroglyphic writing recorded royal genealogies, conquests, and astronomical data on stone monuments, painted ceramics, and bark-paper books. Literacy remained elite, concentrated among scribes trained in the complex script's hundreds of signs.
Contacts, Conflicts, and Legacy
Maya city-states traded extensively — obsidian from highland Guatemala, jade from the Motagua valley, cacao from coastal plantations, salt from Yucatan shores. Merchants traveled routes connecting the Maya world to central Mexico and beyond. Ideas traveled too; Teotihuacan's influence appeared in Maya art and architecture before that great city's fall.
Then, between roughly 800 and 900 CE, Classic Maya civilization collapsed. Cities throughout the southern lowlands were abandoned; populations declined catastrophically; monument construction ceased. The causes remain debated — drought, warfare, environmental degradation, political fragmentation — probably some combination unique to each region. Yet the Maya did not disappear. Populations shifted northward to Yucatan, where cities like Chichen Itza and Uxmal would flourish in subsequent centuries. The Classic collapse ended one chapter; others would follow.
Abilities
These abilities reflect a civilization where sacrifice unlocked cosmic knowledge. Destroying military units or peasants to gain technologies captures Maya belief that blood offerings released sacred power — lives spent to acquire wisdom from the gods. The restriction on cavalry and siege equipment reflects American realities: no horses existed, and Maya warfare relied on obsidian weapons and warrior courage rather than siege engines.
Discarding military technologies to manipulate battle draws represents priestly divination — astronomical knowledge determining auspicious moments for combat. Reorganizing buildings through economy technologies reflects the administrative sophistication that coordinated great construction projects across Maya cities.
Mayans I
/ 2 
to take 1 
to your hand
and 
.When researching each
, you may spend 3 
to pay -1 
you may discard 1
from your hand to make them draw +1 or -1 cube from the bag (your choice)
from your hand to transfer up to 5 Buildings on your player mat between different areas
FAQ
From which deck do I take a technology when sacrificing units?
From the current Age's technology deck. You draw from whichever Age the game is currently in.
Can I spend 6 resources to reduce the product cost by 2 when researching one technology?
No. You may only use this ability once per technology researched, reducing the cost by 1 product for 3 resources. However, when researching a different technology, you may use the ability again.
Can I discard a military technology to modify my own cube draws?
Yes. The ability triggers "when anyone draws cubes from the bag," which includes yourself. You may make yourself draw +1 or -1 cube.
When exactly can I use the ability to modify cube draws?
After bag preparation is complete (all preparation effects applied) but before cubes are actually drawn. You interrupt the drawing player to declare you are discarding a military technology and specify +1 or -1 cubes.
What does transferring buildings on my player mat mean?
You physically move building tokens between different areas on your player mat. Since empty slots on the mat represent buildings you already constructed (the tokens themselves sit on the game map when built), transferring buildings lets you reorganize which structures are available in which areas. This is a planning tool — you're rearranging options for future rounds, not constructing anything immediately.