Quetzalcoatl & the Bones of Humanity

Story beats

1. 1) After previous suns end, the gods decide to create humans anew; Quetzalcoatl volunteers to fetch ancestral bones from Mictlan.
2. 2) Mictlantecuhtli, lord of the dead, sets trials: blow a conch with no holes. Quetzalcoatl fills it with bees to make it sound.
3. 3) Told to circle the underworld four times, Quetzalcoatl races to leave with the bones; Mictlantecuhtli digs a pit. Quetzalcoatl falls, dying briefly; a quail scatters the bones.
4. 4) Revived by his ally Xolotl, Quetzalcoatl gathers the mixed bones—now of varied sizes—and returns to Tamoanchan.
5. 5) The gods grind the bones, mix them with Quetzalcoatl’s own blood and corn, and shape new humans—explaining our diverse statures and shared debt to divine sacrifice.

Context & symbolism

The tale fuses maize agriculture with divine self-sacrifice: humans are corn-blood composites. Mictlan’s trials emphasize cunning over brute strength; even a god falls and needs help, underscoring interdependence. Varied bone sizes explain human diversity. Bloodletting rituals echo Quetzalcoatl’s gift—humans repay the debt through offerings.

Xolotl, often a dog-headed deity, guides souls and assists Quetzalcoatl, highlighting duality and companionship in liminal journeys. The conch and bees motif shows innovation: turning a dead shell into vibrant sound.

Motifs

• Descents for primordial materials
• Trickery to outwit lords of death
• Self-sacrifice to animate creation
• Scattered bones as diversity’s source
• Bees, conches, and sound as life

Use it in play

• An underworld lord demands a conch’s song; players must improvise with insects or magic.
• A pit trap in the land of the dead scatters soul-essences; re-gathering them determines traits.
• A dog-headed guide revives fallen PCs if they honor an earlier pact.
• A ritual that needs ground bones mixed with hero’s blood to awaken a protective golem.
• Diverse bone sizes become a clue to multiple ages of creation.

Comparative threads

• Descent for creation matter: Similar to the Norse mead of poetry quest, or Inanna’s descent but with generative motive.
• Blood as animating force: Mirrors Chinese Pangu’s body creating the world, or Genesis breath of life—inverted with blood.
• Trickster-creator: Quetzalcoatl combines wisdom and cunning, akin to Maui or Prometheus.

Hooks and campaign seeds

• A conch-horn with bees trapped inside sings prophecies of past worlds.
• Bone powder mixed with a hero’s blood crafts a homunculus ally; enemies seek to steal it.
• A god falls in the underworld; players must revive and escort them out while evading pitfall traps.
• Mictlan’s lord allows barter: leave something living in exchange for what you take.