Sybal Heim | Teyacapan

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Name: Teyacapan

Nicknames: Pan, although he's not a big fan of nicknames. He endures them.

Age: 128 (arrived in 1797)

Physical Age: 32

Height: 5'6"

Hair: Dark brown

Eyes: Golden

Faction: Insurgent
    Teyacapan supports the Insurgent movement wholeheartedly and is rather aggressive in his opinions on how things should be handled. Strike swift and strike hard, better to take the snake's head off than to daze it. Although he prefers to aid in minor tasks, offering his home as a meeting ground, passing messages out of sight and the like, he will not shy away from getting his hands extra dirty. Teyacapan isn't normally the fighting type, he doesn't have the skills nor body for it, but he will gladly sacrifice blood and take lives to help bring down Sybal Heim.

Occupation: Beekeeper. 
    He was a beekeeper before Sybal Heim and he is a beekeeper now, it's in his blood! He has happily embraced a modern approach to keeping his fluffy little sting-free friends happy and keeps his honey production on the smaller side. He has no desire to 'muscle in' on the already deeply rooted honey-establishment, happy to be known as just that one guy who sells and trades really good honey and honey made treats. 
 
Sybal Form: The Jade Rattler
    Teyacapan's Sybal stands 6 feet tall at the shoulder and 18 feet from snout to tail tip. Best described as a human torso on a snake tail, with thick scale plating and a snake's head. Large golden unblinking eyes reflect no emotions and are positioned just after a row of heat pits. A crest of feathers grows just beyond the head, usually laid flat against the neck, but with the ability to rise and flare with emotions. 
    The human torso is covered in fur and pattern of a jaguar, with a collar of leather and shells tossed across the shoulders, and arms ending in paw-like hands with retractable claws at the end of stubby fingers. These muscular arms are the beast's main mode of locomotion, dragging himself along with little aid from the thick tail. While he has been observed to rear up and bear full weight on his tail, locomotion in this fashion is slow. His scaly topside, from head to tail tip, is covered in thick plating with heavy spine growth, an exaggerated and warped crocodilian display. 
    The long tail ends in a rattle of jade, cracked and worn, looking ready to fall apart but never actually doing so. It produces a hollow, eerie sound. There is a constant, slow flow of slime dripping from his jaws, leaving an ungodly mess wherever he has been. 

Sybal Power: Tar Slime
    The Rattler's constant drooling is not just a nuisance that sticks to whatever he touches (thankfully vanishing by morning), but also his sybal power. In its normal state, it is watery and stringy, irritating but easy to wipe off with a damp cloth. It may leave behind a bit of an odor like old mushrooms and can stain light fabrics sickly green, but all in all, it is harmless. 
    When used consciously, The Jade Rattler can change the viscosity of his drool, creating a thicker, stickier tar-like substance. It is produced in his neck which swells and expands dramatically as the Tar Slime gathers. Most often he will use the slime as projectiles, spitting as far as fifty feet with near-perfect aim. One batch of throat-goop gives him two shots before he must produce more slime, which takes around five to eight minutes.
    The Tar Slime, is, as the name suggests, very, very sticky, and will glue the unfortunate victim to just about any surface. Thankfully it is not permanent. It will begin to break down into the usual watery, stringy state within forty minutes. Alternatively, oil will break it down too. So if you find yourself caught, wait it out! Or get a friend to douse you in vegetable oil. 

Docile or Feral: Feral
    Teyacapan becomes a solitary creature during the night, retreating to the Aionios Woods and keeping a distance to other sybals. He can socialize if pressed but finds it difficult to focus as he is constantly on the look for something better. Better food, better conversations, better company, even a better hole to curl up in. Some nights he spends staring at the sky, searching for better stars and better constellations, anything better than what is already present. He is consumed by the 'grass always being greener' on the other side, and once a goal is attained he grows dissatisfied and moves on quickly, sometimes in a matter of minutes. He is never content with what he has.

Personality:


History: 
    Out of seven children, Teyacapan was the second son, born fourth to a pair of farmers, living a simple life near the great city Calakmul. From the moment he was old enough to join in the hard work, Teyacapan spent his days in the fields, and later, when he could wield a spear with precision, he hunted alongside the men for meat. His family kept bees and although it was usually his mother and sisters tending to the stingerless critters, Teyacapan developed a fondness for the bees and would often be found helping. It was his mother who taught him the skills he would eventually need for keeping his own bees. 

    Life was quiet and followed a predictable pattern set forth by the seasons. Sometimes there were festivals to attend and offerings to be made, but for the most part, life was composed of making sure there would be enough food for all. It was a hard life, the only one Teyacapan knew of, but that didn't stop him from wishing for more. 

    Few remarkable events occurred early on in his life.  As a whole, his family was blessed with good fortune. No untimely deaths, no crippling injuries, only a handful of terrible harvests and few very serious illnesses. Everything moved smoothly and was so very, very boring. Teyacapan got in trouble more than once through his teenage years, for trying to stir the pot just a little. He had a habit of rubbing people the wrong way simply to see how they would react and relied on his older brother to either keep him safe or break up the eventual fights. After a particularly nasty beating, Teyacapan changed his approach and became more subtle in his ways, though his ultimate goal was still to break the monotony one way or another. 

    He was married at the age of seventeen to a fairly common woman for whom he had no feelings at all. It was arranged to strengthen the bond between the two families, a perfect match in the eyes of both parents and in-laws, but Teyacapan and his wife, Itzel, couldn't disagree more. It was a turbulent relationship as Itzel was no demure woman, but a hurricane in human shape. She pushed Teyacapan as hard as he pushed her and somehow they came to care for one another. Their relationship settled down slowly with the birth of their first child, a daughter, and by the time a second followed, you'd think Teyacapan and Itzel had always been made for one another. 

    Despite having a loving wife and children, and being quite well respected for the quality of honey the little family produced, by the age of thirty-two, Teyacapan's restlessness stirred again. Once more his life was as predictable as the seasons, even with his own children thrown into the mixing pot. Worse yet was the fact that his brother had somehow found the gall to move his own family from the small community closer to Calakmul, in a search for grandeur or some other ridiculous reason. To Teyacapan it felt almost like a betrayal, leaving their modest farming roots from something better. Well, where was his own chance? Where was his golden ticket?!

    In anger, Teyacapan lashed out at his own family, at his wife, and the storm awoke once more. It was after a particularly nasty fight that he left, spear in hand with the excuse to hunt but in truth, seeking solitude. He felt angry and bitter with life, saw only negativity and not his success as a father and husband. He cursed the path his birth had set him upon and his parents for supporting his brother breaking the mould. Of course, he knew that he had to make his own changes, but Teyacapan had never been that brave. 

    Once calm, he noticed the first changes in the jungle. Trees he had never encountered before, mixing with familiar sights, giving way to an eerie, mysterious feeling. He hadn't gone off the beaten path, he knew exactly where he was supposed to be, yet what he saw didn't fit. Curiosity pulled at him to investigate, and with an ear and eye out for any possible danger, Teyacapan slipped further into the mysterious forest, until unfamiliar foliage was all he could see.

    Teyacapan's integration into Sybal Heim took a long time. He was aggressive at first, certain that this was dark magic, that he was dreaming or that he was dead. Every day he came up with a new plausible reason for the strange city he found himself in until he finally exhausted all possibilities and slowly accepted what he was being told. In these tumultuous times, he hardly spared a thought for his family, mostly because he spent so much of it in denial. Like so many before him, he questioned and then demanded to return, only to learn that this was impossible. This was the first solid sign that Sybal Heim wasn't the paradise it was made out to be but something else entirely. Teyacapan locked that observation away and played his part.

    Life in the city wasn't as terrible as he had expected, especially not once he learned to bury the ache of his lost family and smile. It was good, it was decent, and it was anything but boring. For years he fooled himself into believing that he enjoyed the Immortal City, after all, he had his bees, he had friends, and he had learned so very much about the world, things his farming life would never have made possible. Yet... somewhere beyond the magical limits was his wife and children and the ache he had buried for so long began to burn. Only now it wasn't for the loss but the injustice of what was taken from him. 

    Teyacapan began to believe, firmly, that this mighty city was nothing short of a prison and the creator of it all, Basileus the Organizer, a monster. The goal? Who knew, but in dark and broody corners, Teyacapan began to encounter others who were just as sceptical of the paradise. Each with their own reason but all with the same goal of freedom from Sybal Heim. 

    It was during one of Teyacapan's many (at the time) drunken rants that he attracted the attention of the Insurgents and a low-ranking member, Johan, became a frequent drinking companion. At the time Teyacapan had no knowledge of Johan's connections, but that didn't stop him from spewing his usual bile and praise the Insurgents' actions. Once sober he would usually dismiss his words, but over time he grew to trust Johan as the two of them saw eye to eye on many topics. 

    Finding Teyacapan worth the gamble, Johan eventually revealed his true colours and offered for Teyacapan to join the ranks. The initiation was slow, but as it turned out, Johan had an eye for new 'talent'. Teyacapan was given small jobs at first, tests of loyalty and character, and he did everything to prove himself worthy of joining the ranks. He did just that a little over five years ago. 

    Overtime Teyacapan became reliable for a host of jobs, proving himself loyal time and time again. He found a new purpose in his life, his drunken incidents diminished now that he had likeminded people to converse with sober, and the world began to look just a little brighter. He became a good, solid grunt type, always eager to work, just one cog of many, helping the Insurgents to run smoothly. 

...no matter the cost.



Additional Info: 
    - 'Taken' from the world in 576 AD (late classic) 
    - Currently living in the Heiros district and loving it. 
    - Sarcasm is his friend and a terrible habit he has been trying to rid himself of for years. So far he's only managed to dial back a little. 
    - Teyacapan wears a variety of clothing that isn't Maya in origin. He greatly enjoys the melting pot of cultures that the city is, and keeps his heritage visible in small ways; jewellery, small swatches of patterns. You will never see him in a full-on Maya outfit these days. He finds that he has become too cultured for something that barbaric.
    - He is never more content and relaxed than when he is alone with his bees. They remind him of home and despite not being the actual bees he used to pamper, he will baby-talk at them and allow them full access to his home. On some days they are absolutely everywhere so check your tea before sipping!
    - Green is his favourite colour and jade is his favourite gemstone. Go figure.
    - Wears earplugs daily. His most prized possession is a set of jade, although he owns a broad variety carved in wood and bone. Very rare to see him without any plugs.
    - Teyacapan is bi-curious but has never actively sought to broaden his horizon. He'd never admit to it, but fear holds him back.
    - He had a wife, Itzel, two daughters, Nenetl and Eleuia and a young son, Cualli. It breaks his heart to think of them and therefore hardly anyone knows of his family. They are a secret.