Ītzpāpālōtl

Fearsome is the name of Ītzpāpālōtl, for she is the Obsidian Butterfly. Bearing the untrammeled might of her dual nature, Ītzpāpālōtl is both a Cihuateteo, a woman who died in childbirth, and a Tzitzimime, star demon. Her Cihuateteo side makes Ītzpāpālōtl’s loyalty to women and defense of the sun beyond question. Her Tzitzimime side exposes a feral brutality that leaves a broken trail of unfaithful men and titanspawn in her wake. She fell from the heavens in a shower of Tzitzimime, frogs, and toads and conceals her appearance within a cunningly wrought cloak of invisibility. Dual-natured at the best of times, Ītzpāpālōtl alternates between protector of women and monster of the night, inflicting madness, stealing children, and seducing men before tearing them limb from limb. Ītzpāpālōtl was granted dominion over Tamoanchan after Xochiquetzal’s fall from grace, but her new position has done little to dull her edge. She senses that war is on the horizon and while she is reluctant to fight her sister Tzitzimime, there is no savagery she won’t inflict upon the enemies of the Teōtl.

Ītzpāpālōtl often affects the guise of a seductively beautiful noblewoman. She is a master of disguise, employing a mystical combination of white face paint and rubber to affect a human guise when not employing her invisibility cloak. When her guise falls away, all that remains is the leering skull of a savage skeletal warrior, whose obsidian-edged wings are as horrifying to behold as her jaguar talons and clawed feet.

Ītzpāpālōtl’s incarnations are creatures of the hunt that have more in common with beasts than humanity. They cling to darkness and leave fire and destruction in their wake, but can be strangely protective of the rare person they bond with. Formidably seductive, they make excellent lovers, but it is rare that these relationships end well. Ītzpāpālōtl’s Scions have to find the balance between their destructive nature and the World they must protect. Like their mother, paradise is at their fingertips, but can it ever truly be theirs?