"In ancient times when Okoth had come north and founded his kingdom, a thousand years or more before the birth of Tlaloc the Blessed there was the City of Tamoachan, which was inhabited by the freed slaves of Okoth who called themselves the Olman people. And it was a great and mighty city, the splendour of it beyond anything the humans of Okoth had done before, and it was the pinnacle of human achievement of that era.
But Tamoachan was ruled by a lord named Tloques, who came to serve the evil Bat God Camazotz. And Tloques' evil grew with his power and with the influence of his city, until he believed he could rival Okoth himself. Finally, Okoth could no longer abide Tloques and his worship of the Bat God and the abominations the lord committed in his city and against his own people.
And so, at the request of the other humans of the land, Okoth gathered unto himself a mightly army of serpents and humans and marched upon Tamoachan.
When Tloques saw this, he knew he was undone and could not defeat Okoth's army, which outnumbered his by more than ten to one. And so Tloques prayed to Camazotz and on the advice of the Bat he challenged Okoth to a duel to decide the rulership of Tamoachan and the whole Kingdom.
Okoth agreed to this challenge, not out of pride but because he did not desire to besiege the city and cause the deaths of his own loyal minions and the citizens of Tamoachan, whom Okoth did not blame for the atrocities of their lord.
Before Tloques would come forth to do combat, he demanded terms from Okoth. He demanded that, should he fall in battle, he be interred within the great Shrine of Tamoachan, which was in the center of the city and was dedicated originally to all of the gods but later was devoted primarily to Camazotz. He also demanded that Okoth agree not to defile or desecrate or otherwise destroy the Shrine, but that it should serve as a lasting monument to Tloques' greatness.
To this Okoth agreed, and the battle was joined. Magicks of the serpents dueled with the necromancy of the Bat God and, as well, the legends say that the two battled physically. Tloques' strength was augmented by the evil essence of Camazotz, but Okoth was a mighty warrior as well and in the end the evil lord was slain when Okoth plunged his spear through Tloques' vile heart. Tloques' servants bore him away to the Shrine and entombed him therein.
But Okoth had other plans for Tloques' monument. For while the sarrukh honoured his pledge, he had Tamoachan evacuated and the entire city around the Shrine was razed to the ground. Then, he pronounced a great curse upon the Shrine, such that neither Scaled One nor any human of Sazhansiir nor any subject or servant of either might enter the shrine, lest he die.
And Okoth had the Shrine buried, and the land salted so that none could settle there again and the location of the city and the Shrine were lost and the land overgrown until Tamoachan and Tloques became mere legends in the minds of the people, even in Tlaloc's time. And so, although Okoth kept his word, Tloques' desire to be memorialized after his death was thwarted.
It is known that Tloques was puissant in lore and that he also gathered to him from the corners of Okoth's Kingdom all manner of treasures and rare items. Foremost amongst these was his crown, which is described as being of jade and shaped like intertwined nagas with rubies for eyes and diamonds for teeth. This crown was said to be of great power to those who know the proper words and phrases. There is no account of the crown leaving Tamoachan after the duel, and Tloques always wore the crown. We believe the crown was buried with Tloques in his tomb within the Shrine."
