Tzanepacoz

Tzanepacoz is not, strictly speaking, a single faith. There are shared concepts, and even certain texts and songs that are commonly used. But the primary feature of Tzanepacoz—from the Motzálac for "divinity has taught us"—is its flexibility in accommodating the cults of various deities from across the Temacan Peninsula and the surrounding areas. The deities therein are all woven into particular narratives popular in smaller communities and larger empires both.

Key to understanding Tzanepacoz is understanding the difference between tlayhuan (darkness, but also destruction and change) and tzanehuin (brightness, as well as creation and peace). There is a preference for people to live lives more in tune with tzanehuin, but the philosophers and priests know that it is not possible to live without tlayhuan, nor can one not find even the smallest sliver of tzanehuin in the darkness. (Which is not to say, of course, that things which are much "lighter" in nature should not be rewarded and things much "darker" not feared.)

Another essential element in understanding Tzanepacoz is the realization that everything affects everything else. This is best laid out in the board game tzinnoh huanetlanoh, more commonly known as netrano, wherein the effect a piece has on the board is rarely to move itself and more often to move all the pieces around it. The aim of the game is still enlightenment, an ascension to the world above; but the means depends on the movements of others as much as those of oneself. Enlightenment, it is understood, is something that a person must choose, that a community must support, and that life must spin the right way.

There is no starting point, official or unofficial, for the religion. Instead, there are multiple creation stories.

The eight major deities are laid out below. There are a number of others, often quite specific, but these are typically agreed on regardless of locale.