Art Style Guide - Hidden Jaguar

We were tasked with creating a story based on Mayan culture that will eventually be part of an art style guide for capstone. Our world is one where the Mayan gods have protected the people for centuries, stopping other invaders from the south and from Europe. As a result of this divine blessing, the Mayan people have experienced prosperous millennia of peace, but have had very little growth technologically, after all why build what the gods do for you? The people have found themselves stratified, with opulent cities and run down shanties coexisting. Many have forgotten the meaning behind their ancient rituals, though the priests continue to carry them on and curry favor with the gods. In doing so, they have been elevated to some of the highest positions of power. Our story begins with twins living in rags.

The hero for our story is based on one of the Mayan Hero Twins, Hunahpu. While the Mayan Hero Twins are male, for our story, Hunahpu is female. Hunahpu is a young outcast in this world, living in one of the poor shanty towns that’s far from the highly religious and wealthy capital. Hunahpu is more self-centered and cares more about immediate circumstances and people more than strangers and society at large. She is well-known for her expert marksmanship and hunting skills. However, while clever, she is also impulsive. 

The Herald that pushes the hero to adventure is the disappearance of Hunahpu’s father. The hero cares greatly for her father, so his disappearance becomes motivation to go to the capital and discover more about the society she lives in. Her twin brother, Xblanque, starts as an ally and serves as a foil to Hunahpu during their journey. One of his identifying characteristics is his special impenetrable armor with a jaguar motif. Like Hunahpu, Xblanque is clever and inquisitive, but he is also more empathetic of others and wants to help as many people as he can. He believes in the needs of the many before the needs of the individual. This belief contrasts with Hunahpu's and serves as the main conflict after learning the mechanisms of their society. This makes Xblanque both the shapeshifter and the shadow. 

Accompanying the twins on their journey is Vucub Caquix, a heretic priest. He serves as both the mentor and trickster roles. He is thought of as crazy because he knows the truths of the society and the religion that the layperson is not supposed to know. 

Vucub Caquix points them to the capital to find their father and shares his knowledge about their society along the way. However, Vucub Caquix also has his own personal motivation for helping the twins; he wishes to dismantle the current religion that he feels is wrong and establish his own religious authority. 

The twins encounter temple high priests who fulfill the role of threshold guardians for our story. The priests are people with significant power and knowledge in this society and the people behind the disappearance of the twins’ father. They present themselves with great opulence, but are not loud-mouthed and brash. Rather they are aloof and secretive, hiding the harsh truth of gods and demons from society.

After a series of challenges, the twins outsmart the priests and gain access to the inner temple closer to where their father is being held. They find an ancient book called the Popol Vuh and learn the truth about the religion. The god’s demand sacrifice to keep demon’s at bay. The sacrifices must occur at a specific time every year, and that time is close. Their father will be sacrificed to the underworld of Xibalba very soon.

This is the moment of crisis. Hunahpu loves her father and doesn't care about appeasing the underworld gods. She wants to rescue him despite the consequences. However, Xbalanque believes in the needs of the many. He wants to proceed with the sacrifice in order to protect the people from the demons that would be unleashed. The twins fight, but despite Hunahpu's hunting skills, she is unable to beat Xbalanque because of his powerful jaguar armor. Xbalanque defeats her and she is forced to flee. 

Hunahpu learns, with the help of Vucub Caquix, that there is a divine spear somewhere in the temple that is said to be able to pierce anything. She goes back into the temple and finds the spear and gains a blessing from the sun god. 

Hunahpu confronts her brother in the moments just before he is about to sacrifice their father to Xibalba. Xbalanque forces her to make a choice. She can't save them both, and she is forced to attack her brother in order to save their father. Her spear pierces the armor and sends Xbalanque falling into the watery portal to the underworld. Xbalanque's death satisfies the underworld gods and keeps the demons from being unleashed for the time being. 

With Hunahpu's father saved and the sacrificial pact upheld, they return home. However, this journey has profoundly changed Hunahpu. After dealing with her brother and learning the truth of the religion, she becomes determined to help others and reform the religion so that people no longer need to be sacrificed.

With the old priesthood outsmarted and overthrown during the trials, and with the truth of the religion made public, Vucub Caquix takes over and begins to establish a new religion with himself as the leader. It is unclear if this is truly a good thing and there may be consequences in the future, but that is a tale for another time. For now, the status quo is restored with a new religion replacing the old, and the social divisions between the rich and the poor begin to crumble.