Mictlantecuhtli
Mictlantechuhtli is the Olman god of Death, Darkness, Murder, and the Underworld. His symbol is a skeletal canine (itzcuintli, the dog totem) or a skull and crossbones.
In their true forms, Mictlantecuhtli and his wife resemble emaciated humans with skull-like heads, bulging eyes. Mictlantecuhtli is also depicted as a skeletal canine. Their omens include the hoot of an owl, a dream in which the dreamer dies, and having a vulture perch on one's shoulder. All of these omens, of course, signify imminent death.
Mictlantecuhtli has a wife, Mictlanchihuatl, with whom he co-rules over the Olman afterlife.
A relationship of some kind with Chitza-Atlan, guardian of the gates of the underworld, might be assumed.
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. Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlanchihuatl rule from Tlalxicco, the ninth and lowest level of the Olman underworld. There, all those who do not die while performing an activity presided over by another god (such as in combat, as prisoners, during childbirth and so on) must journey past the gates of Chitza-Atlan and across the nine rivers of the underworld to dwell eternally in Mictlantecuhtli's and Mictlanchihuatl's domain. There they experience neither pain nor pleasure.
According to the Maztica Campaign Setting, the realm of Mictlan, the Land of the Dead, exists on the layer of Niflheim on the plane of Hades. Mictlan is cold and boring, inhabited by many spiders and owls.
The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan includes a diorama depicting Mictlan. It includes such classic torments as a devil forcing men to roll a boulder up a hill, a region of burning sands in which devils torture captured souls, a canyon full of lava, an icy waste, a steam-filled chasm, a treacherous swamp, and a Stygian river. A hedge of thorns protects a happy hunting ground from the rest of the realm.
Mictlantecuhtli is revered by the Olman people as the god of death. Mictlantecuhtli is also one of the patrons (with Zotzilaha) of the werebat nation of Telaneteculi in the Amedio Jungle.
The primary responsibility of Mictlantecuhtli's priests is preparing the dead for their afterlife journeys and presiding over the death rights. Grim and cold, they never show mercy to their opponents, sacrificing them to their deity as soon as possible.
As with most Olman priests, priests of Mictlantecuhtli 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.
Olman temples are usually step pyramids with entrances at the bottom corresponding to the four points of a compass.
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. During Mictlantecuhtli's sign, which comes up once a year, clerics of the gods of death must spill some of their own blood in order to feed their deities.
Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlanchihuatl also demand a small amount of blood from any of their clerics who cast a raise dead spell.
Mictlantecuhtli's worshippers get his attention by sacrificing 50 of their followers during the dark of the moons. These sacrifices then transform into undead to act as the god's agents in the mortal world. Mictlantecuhtli encourages his followers to send their enemies to be his slaves in the afterlife.
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A relationship of some kind with Chitza-Atlan, guardian of the gates of the underworld, might be assumed.
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