January marked the beginning of the New Year, a time for celebration and sacrificial rites. From the start of the month, grand ceremonies occurred successively throughout the regions of Mexico. In every peaceful village and town, Priests sang high, civilians danced joyfully, all celebrating together till the end of the month.
The Divine Descendants and nobility from the states had no interest in dancing or singing. They dispatched tribute Envoys and sent out discrete spies, questioning passing merchants, and closely monitored the warfare unfolding between the Lerma River and the Tarsus River. Among the world's mightiest forces, a massive and brutal war was underway between the two longest rivers.