[Sc Demigod & God] Teōtl vs K’uh vs Apu - Pantheons of South America

[wyrdhamster]

So dwelling more into corebooks of Scion, I want to understand difference between three great Pantheons of three great civilisations of Central and South America. Could you help me understand the difference between those? I'm totally outside this culture circle to get nuances.

Pantheons in topic:

• Teōtl of Aztec ( Scion: Hero )
• K’uh of Maya ( Scion: God )
• Apu of Inca ( Scion: Demigod )

Areas of the previous ancient empires...

[ArcaneArts]

THere's Wikipedia, and of course the books themselves.

[wyrdhamster]

From what I get of general write-ups...

(From worshippers point of view) Teōtl are about Sacrifice - moved even to extreme, when they sacrificed their children. K’uh like to play the (political) 'games' with their worshippers. Apu are about Duty - they are guardians of the universe, first and formost.

[Lady Darcia]

So, i hope i won't get into a long rant, having studied those civilisations, but basically :

In Aztec mythology, the Gods sacrificed themselves so that the 5th Sun could rise. Without it, the all world would fall into darkness and chaos, becoming the prey of litteral star-demons (and many, many other terrible creatures). As such, it is the duty of the Mexica to sacrifice themselves (or captives) to nurrish the Gods with their own blood, so that the sun can keep on existing. As such, sacrifice is way to contribute to the World, and fits with Aztec way of life, where everyone has its place, its role in the universe, and not fulfulling it would be disastrous.

The Maya have a similar worldview, except not all blood are equally powerful. Given the fact that the Mayas lived in various city-state competing against each other, many kings tried to legitimize their power by claiming that they are the perfect intermediary between their people and the Gods. As such; they were the one giving freely their blood, through mutilation and not sacrifice. Since every city-state claim the support of one particular God, it is the basis of the political aspect of the K'uh : afterall, if the Gods are real, it is only normal for them to support the city-state giving them blood and fervor.

Finally, the Inca are very distinct from the two others. In Inca culture, lands were not the propriety of the livings, but of the deads : ancestors were the guardians of their lignage, of their well-being and wealth. As such, it was the duty of the livings to not only to become the caretakers of the lands they inherited in the name of their ancestors, but also to make it thrive and expand it. Sacrifices could be made, such as children abandonned to the cold after being drugged, but it was just a way to create guardian spirits. You can see how this worldview explains how the Apu are seen as guardians. Furthermore, just like the Mayan kings, the Inca empire semented its rule by associating itself with the main Gods of their Pantheon, since the legendary founder of the empire was supposed to be the Scion of a god, as such making his lignage very prestigious.

That's the gist of it : i could go on to further details, but i think that this are the main historical reasons why the Teotl, K'uh and Apu values are this way.