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First Place: The H.E.A.L.E.R.S.
Location of the Artifact:
Analoni Xochitl (The Floral Compass)
Location of the Artifact: The Botanical Garden at the Palace of Moctezuma
Powers: Whenever a plant with magical healing properties is nearby, the flower will glow. The closer the holder is to a magical healing plant, the brighter the flower will get.
Description: The Analoni Xochitl is a brilliant white flower with multicolored stars all along its petals. The white of the flower represents the purity of Xitlali, and the stars represent each of her kind actions towards the Aztecs, so they may never be forgotten.
History: Almost 500 years ago, during the last years of the Aztec civilization before the Spanish conquest, a beautiful young Aztec woman named Xitlali (star) lived a happy life. She worked in the Botanical Garden at the Palace of Moctezuma, a magnificent palace located near the most important Aztec temple, the Major Temple, which was in the middle of Tenochtitlan, the most important Aztec city.
Xitlali was appreciated by many people due to her job at the garden, where she spent long hours taking care of the plants and mixing them to make herbal medicines that cured the pains of the Aztec people. But Xitlali had a secret. She was not common girl. She was a witch. Using her magic she created the “Analoni Xochitl” (The Floral Compass), the artifact that was the key to her success in herbal medicine due to its ability of finding magical plants. Every month, the Aztecs saw Xitlali leaving the city with that strange artifact, a beautiful white flower which she wore in her hair. The reason why she did that was because she wanted to hid her Analoni Xochitl from the eyes of the villagers, so everytime they saw her, the villagers would only see a common girl with a flower ornament in her. After a week Xitlali returned to Tenochtitlan and the Aztecs always saw with amazement how she came with lots of plants and flowers. The Aztecs started suspecting about the magic of the artifact but never told Xitlali anything.
The Aztecs had the custom of sacrificing the most beautiful young women to offer their blood to the gods to make them happy. For the girls it was an honor to be killed that way because they believed it was the noblest way to die, but Xitlali didn't think that way. She knew that sooner or later she was going to be called to be sacrificed but she hoped that the Aztecs would respect her life by not killing her because of all the good things and herbal healing she had done for them. But the Aztecs were going through bad times. A constant rain was menacing to flood the city and they thought that Tonatiuh, the God of the Sun, was allowing that rain because he was angry with them. The Aztecs wanted to please him by offering someone’s blood so he would stop the rain. There was nothing that could please Tonatiuh more than the blood of a beautiful young woman. For her unfortune, Xitlali was the prettiest girl. The decision to sacrifice her was made.
The Aztecs didn’t stop to think about the healing she had done for them, as Xitlali had expected. They already suspected about the magical powers of Xitlali’s artifact and thought that they didn’t need her services anymore. They believed that with the artifact any other girl could continue her job. When Xitlali knew she was going to be sacrificed she became sad and angry. She didn’t know how to disappear and she couldn’t run away because the Aztecs would see her so she decided to accept the terrible fate that was awaiting her but not before punishing the Aztecs by not giving them her magic compass. She left the Analoni Xochitl in a chamber guarded by her Xoloitzcuintle dog and protected the botanical garden with dangerous and poisonous plants like Devil’s Snare and Deathly Nightshade.
Just before the first ray of the sun touched the ground Xitlali met her fate. She was sacrificed with no remorse from her people. The brave Aztecs that tried to obtain the artifact couldn’t survive the powers of the plants. After Xitlali was unjustly sacrificed, even after all of her valiant actions in the village, her dog became enraged and using power gained before his mistress's death, it rampaged through the village. It leveled everything but the Palace of Moctezuma. When the dog struck down the entire village, he rose them from the grave to forever protect the gift that blessed their lives, of which its creator they so carelessly threw away. It is said that an army of undead warriors guard the Chamber, as well as deadly plants and Xitlali's own dog. The Analoni Xochitl is still there, guarded by the spirit of Xitlali’s dog, waiting to be used by a person whose heart is pure, just like the heart of its owner.
General Idea People Have of It: Most people have gotten the idea of what the Analoni Xochitl is like from myths and legends, though mostly proven by eyewitness accounts inscribed in stone. The Muggle investigators found pictures of a beautiful woman leaving the village wearing a gorgeous and exotic flower in her hair. Often a "halo of golden light" was around this flower, meaning that they saw the flower glow just before she picked her magical plants. Since she mainly went out at night to avoid suspicion, the witnesses merely thought of it as a guiding light. It was believed to be a gift from the gods that anyone could use. Magical authorities, however, have found that the flower began to glow whenever she came close to a magical plant. A budding warlock in the same Aztec civilization as Xitlali documented that he noticed the flower responded to the "magical output" of the healing plants. Off of his findings, we can determine the basic powers of the Analoni Xochitl. See "Powers" for details.
Have there been any past attempts of people trying to retrieve it and possibly meeting their demise? Yes, some other people have tried to retrieve the Analoni Xochitl but no one has yet passed the dog, because none have approached it with a pure heart ready to take the Compass and use it for the right reasons. People have approached it as if it's just a magical object that will give them wealth and recognition across the world. The dog didn't like this, so he struck them down as they tried to steal its precious gift.
Judges' Comments
Interesting artifact. However, I am slightly confused. What exactly is the artifact? Is it actually a flower plant, or some kind of object shaped like a beautiful flower? I am assuming an actual plant because there is no specification otherwise, which kind of throws me off on the whole artifact idea. However, I did enjoy reading about the history of the artifact, and perhaps we as a group can attempt to get past the dog just for a good look! 7.5/10
I really like the story and your artefact! The whole history is very detailed and the story is very sad. I especially like how it relates to your institution, because it's a plant and you're representing a herbology institute. Nice connection there, and the picture is lovely too. I think it would make a very good legendary artefact indeed. Though probably only people interested in herbology will seek it. Anyway, overall a good job and those are some creative Aztec names you came up with! 9/10
Great job. I really enjoyed your story. You told it well, and it was very creative, detailed, and original. 9/10
Pretty well thought out, your story. I like the idea of having your artefact fit so well with your institute. 8/10
Oooh I really like the story, it was really sad! I think it showed good knowledge of the Aztec culture as well as being creative, so big thumbs up for that. I also think the image was really pretty too! I actually want a plant like that in my garden now <_<. The only thing I was unsure about was whether this was an actual flower or a compass shaped like a flower, so some clarification might be needed there. 8/10
Overall Score: 8.3 |
