When Wastelanders huddle around a radlamp on a crisp variegated night the conversation invariably turns to the tall tales of the Wastes. Prominent among these are the colorful stories of fantastical creatures that are said to dwell deep in canyons and radpits, away from prying eyes, ravenously hungry for both human and sauroid alike. Of course none of them have ever seen these beasts themselves, but they swear up and down that they’ve met someone at a bar or rode with someone who had ridden with someone who had seen one of these beasts in the flesh.

To kick off this series, let’s take a quick look at one of the best known denizens of this bestiary: Ketzalkotal.

Wastelanders tell of an immense and elusive sidewinder down south in a particularly barren and crystal-covered strip of canyons that separates the Yucatan jungle and the Wastes. Dubbed Ketzalkotal it has been said that the great feathered serpent swallows full grown men whole and takes down mighty terranosaurs with lightning strikes of its plumed head that easily pluck off arms, legs, and heads from even the largest predator. Some think it has telepathic abilities, a sort of “spider sense”, that tracks its prey from miles away, yet as no other serpent has ever shown such abilities most think it’s just part of the myth.

As one might expect, Ketzalkotal has become an object of cult adoration among the nomadic peoples that straddle the Eq. While seen by outsiders as a largely destructive, malevolent entity, the followers of the feathered serpent see it as a sort of guardian spirit keeping the influence and chaos of the Eqs out of their lives.

Is Ketzalkotal real? Is it one serpent or many? Is it a convenient explanation for why people and radiosaurs disappear in the lawless borderline between NorthEq and SouthEq? Uncertainty has in no way stemmed the tide of ambitious hunters who head south looking to make a name for themselves by bringing in the great feathered serpent – or at least its head. Many come back swearing they’re seen it – many never come back at all.