



Between 1000 and 1500 the native populations of the Americas was swept by often devastating waves old world diseases. The first wave of which began came with the vikings and is believed to have wiped out between 60 to 75% of the population over the the 11th century, with death rates being as high as 90% in areas with some periodic flare ups following afterwards. The Red Death arrived in the New World in 1285 and spread through the population over the next three decades and is believed to have wiped out about half the population, with flare ups happening again over the next two centuries. A third wave of diseases came with the Japanese and ran it's course through 1480 to 1510, though these had a 20%-25% fatality rate. Despite this, some pockets of indigenous civilization managed to get through scarred but more or less intact. Among these was a collection of peoples in Southern Mexico. Along the Western Coast of the Yucatan Penisula was the small city state of Tezemco (latter Old Tezemco). In 1361 it but one of several players in the region recovering from plague when the first viking explorers arrived in the region. At first these were small scouting expeditions, half of which were interested in trade and half of which were interested in gold and thralls. Clad in maile and scale and armed with steel axes, swords, shields and spears viking raiders could do a fair bit of damage to the natives, which while having acquired horses a few decades prior, were still armed with stone, wood and bronze weapons. A few dozen vikings could raise a village, collect their plunder and leave.







Never the less Xalhomec-II of Tezemco turned this to his advantage. He paid off Viking Raiders with gifts of gold and captives and encouraged them to attack his rivals, which spared his lands from the worst of the raids while his rivals suffered. When trade ships came he offered them hospitality, gave them gifts for showing up and secured stashes of weapons. There were a few raids, but Tezemco was better prepared to deal with them with a stronger reserve of manpower with a greater number of metal weapons. Fortunately for Tezemco the raiders were mostly from comparatively small enclaves that were in Florida. When several Viking Raiders were left behind in a raid, instead of sacrificing them as his priests demanded he had them kept as honored guests under heavy guard. They were interrogated for insights into iron-working and with that some basic bloomeries were set up and were used to produce crude iron forms by 1375. In 1379 he had a considerable boon when the captain of a Viking Ship was taken alive who turned out to be the son of an upstart Viking King. He relayed a message through trade that this prince would be returned alive if he would send a smith to train apprentices for seven years. The Viking chief agreed and the smith was soon received and exchanged. Over said time Xalhomec's forges went from producing crude iron spearheads and nails to being able to make steel swords, helms, scale armor and chainmail. It was his son, Xalhomec-III, however who would make full use of these as new assets. From his ascent to the throne in 1385 to his death in 1431 he led the armies of Tezemco (as well as some Norse mercenaries) to victory after victory. Over a dozen cities were vasalized or put under the rule of Tezemco nobles under his reign. Tens of thousands of captives taken as slaves and sacrifices. Tezemco would rise in power over the next century despite plague and rebellion. This also saw the rise of the new city of New Tezemco (OTL Tenochtitlan) in 1490-1530 due to the importance of chinampas agriculture. In time it would fight with Eurasian invaders from the north, both in the form of the Norsemen and the Japanese.







The Armies of the Tezemco Empire was stratified along class lines. There were local militias and levies drawn from the pesantry, but the mainstay of military power lay in a warrior class who's ranks ranged from landless retained warriors to high ranking nobles. To be considered fit to actually run an fiefdom on behalf of the Emperor a man needed to serve for five years in the Legions of Tezemco. The Legions were each named after an animal (Legion of the Serpent, the Eagle, The Jaguar, the Coyote, The Tapir, The Fox, The Deer, The Horse, etc.), had between 2,000 and 8,000 men at any one time and usually had some specialty of equipment. The Legion of the Jaguar was one of the three oldest and definitely one of the most renown. It was composed of a mixture of medium cavalry and infantry was famed for their adaptability, with both carrying shields, swords and crossbows. Tezemco infantry as a general rule were more lightly armored than their norse or Japanese counterparts, sacrificing protection for maneuverability and coolness in the often scorching. Padded cotton vests had lamellar torso armor over it along with the occasional set of gauntlets. A doctrine of the Tezemco Religion was that shedding one's blood and gaining victory for the Emperor (which was seen as being born from a line blessed by the gods) absolved sins and directly counted in one's favor in the afterlife. This gave them a zeal which was respected by both Vikings and Samurai alike. Raids along the Shogunate's Southern Frontier by Tezemco forces played a role in getting the Shogunate to call off it's first invasion of viking territory. Never the less thirty years latter after some negotiation and increased tensions Tezemco armies would fight alongside the Shogunate's Samurai to gain control of disputed lands.





