In the late 1600s, a priest in Mexico reported on his visit to the ruins of an extensive underground temple in Oaxaca, one that the local Zapotec residents believed contained the entrance to the underworld. Local lore held that it had been sealed off by Spanish missionaries underneath a Catholic church built atop the ruins. Now scientists think they've discovered this long-fabled complex.

https://notthebee.com/article/archeologists-discover-entrance-to-ancient-mexican-underworld-under-catholic-church

Alright peeps, let's get cracking on adventure ideas!

Who's ready for spicy jalapeno Mythos?

I seem to recall years ago (like, 25 or so) reading about one of the Mesoamerican peoples (Aztecs, maybe?) having a ritual labyrinth (or long underground passage, at least) that represented the journey to the underworld.  Priestly aspirants (I think?) would make this journey, sort of like "Heroquesting" in Runequest, as a religious rite.  I think the article was in National Geographic.  Sorry, my memory is pretty fuzzy, but this sounds like the same sort of thing so I can easily believe it.

The way those Spanish priests viewed it reminds me of the plot of the horror movie Borderlands, a.k.a. Final Prayer in the U.S.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2781832/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_2

Oh, way to go Science! Now Mexican spirits and demons will come flying up from their underworld, and put hard working Christian spirits and demons out of work, by committing evil for half the blood and souls our guys will.

Quote from: Grognard GM on July 14, 2023, 09:34:10 PM
Oh, way to go Science! Now Mexican spirits and demons will come flying up from their underworld, and put hard working Christian spirits and demons out of work, by committing evil for half the blood and souls our guys will.

I think you have it back asswards, it's the prehispanic demons the ones that demand MORE blood not less.

Quote from: Spinachcat on July 14, 2023, 07:24:59 PM
In the late 1600s, a priest in Mexico reported on his visit to the ruins of an extensive underground temple in Oaxaca, one that the local Zapotec residents believed contained the entrance to the underworld. Local lore held that it had been sealed off by Spanish missionaries underneath a Catholic church built atop the ruins. Now scientists think they've discovered this long-fabled complex.

https://notthebee.com/article/archeologists-discover-entrance-to-ancient-mexican-underworld-under-catholic-church

Alright peeps, let's get cracking on adventure ideas!

Who's ready for spicy jalapeno Mythos?

The year is 1970, Santo, Blue Demon and The Mystic receive a call for help from the Padre in charge of the Church of San Pablo, strange sounds and lights have been seen/heard and people have been dissapearing.

IMHO this is the perfect idea and setting, Mexican Luchadores against the Zapoteca Demons.

Cisco Kid was a friend of mine.

Quote from: GeekyBugle on July 14, 2023, 10:27:04 PMMexican Luchadores against the Zapoteca Demons.

Genius! We need that video game.

I've seen at least three bad horror movies derived from this premise none of which are good enough for me to recall the title.

Quote from: GeekyBugle on July 14, 2023, 10:22:34 PM

Quote from: Grognard GM on July 14, 2023, 09:34:10 PM
Oh, way to go Science! Now Mexican spirits and demons will come flying up from their underworld, and put hard working Christian spirits and demons out of work, by committing evil for half the blood and souls our guys will.

I think you have it back asswards, it's the prehispanic demons the ones that demand MORE blood not less.

Good luck to them re-establishing their brand dominance with that attitude, in this economy. I see them getting a lot of local investors, then going bankrupt.

Quote from: Grognard GM on July 15, 2023, 10:44:28 AM

Quote from: GeekyBugle on July 14, 2023, 10:22:34 PM

Quote from: Grognard GM on July 14, 2023, 09:34:10 PM
Oh, way to go Science! Now Mexican spirits and demons will come flying up from their underworld, and put hard working Christian spirits and demons out of work, by committing evil for half the blood and souls our guys will.

I think you have it back asswards, it's the prehispanic demons the ones that demand MORE blood not less.

Good luck to them re-establishing their brand dominance with that attitude, in this economy. I see them getting a lot of local investors, then going bankrupt.

Well, they might get some capital from Blackrock...

Quote from: GeekyBugle on July 14, 2023, 10:27:04 PM
The year is 1970, Santo, Blue Demon and The Mystic receive a call for help from the Padre in charge of the Church of San Pablo, strange sounds and lights have been seen/heard and people have been dissapearing.

IMHO this is the perfect idea and setting, Mexican Luchadores against the Zapoteca Demons.

Fuck yes. Luchadore-flavored Diablo.

That's a gold medal idea, man.

The Aztecs were used as forced labour to build churches for the Spanish. Big mistake: they built the churches but they hid in them idols, religious symbols and other elements of their own religion. So, the Spanish saw them devoutly praying in these churches and didn't realize that they were actually praying to they gods.

Now, let's say that one or more of these churches are still standing, and the archeologists just opened the catacombs of the very wrong one...

As someone who likes to take a good idea from a different adventure, I would start with the Cosmic Horror we met in "Viral":
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/391974

It is set in modern era, but just take the central idea, move it to Mexico (you already have a cursed church/hospital, cursed catacombs plus cursed monks) and instead of a ghost-hunting crew have a group of archeologists who, desperate for funds, stream their "first exploration" over the internet. IMHO, with a bit of effort, it can work.

Quote from: Reckall on July 15, 2023, 03:04:27 PM
The Aztecs were used as forced labour to build churches for the Spanish. Big mistake: they built the churches but they hid in them idols, religious symbols and other elements of their own religion. So, the Spanish saw them devoutly praying in these churches and didn't realize that they were actually praying to they gods.

Plot twist: Jesus would sneak in at night and remove the idols, so all of their prayers really did go to him. He's a loveable scamp.

The ruins are in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca. They're in the middle of a town of about 11,000 people.

Wikipedia says the town had a museum (the Frissell Museum) that closed without warning in 1995 and a huge collection of Zapotec and Mixtec artifacts (40,000 to 80,000 pieces) vanished. Idols, axes, urns. Jade and obsidian stuff. Fingers pointed at the dean of the Universidad de las Americas, who said "no, we couldn't handle this stuff so we turned over management to the national institute of history and anthropology." Can't find anything that says definitively if INAH actually has the artifacts or if they're just straight up gone. Frissell was an American who collected all the artifacts and opened the museum.

From a Popular Mechanics article about the discovery of the underground area:

QuoteIn 1674, Francisco de Burgoa—a 17th century Dominican chronicler—gave an account of exploring subterranean temples containing four interconnected chambers with a group of Spanish missionaries. They found tombs of priests and kings of Teozepotlan. And then came the most intriguing—a stone door that led to a cavern as deep as 90 miles (yeah, we're not sure how that's possible either) into the Earth, complete with intersecting passages and a pillar-supported roof.

INAH is part of Project Lyobaa, which ran the geological scans that found the underground area.

The above is all real-world stuff.

A Delta Green, or Mexican equivalent operation, perhaps?

Quote from: Thornhammer on July 15, 2023, 10:07:02 PMWikipedia says the town had a museum (the Frissell Museum) that closed without warning in 1995 and a huge collection of Zapotec and Mixtec artifacts (40,000 to 80,000 pieces) vanished.

OMGerd. That's awesome. Just imagine the look on players' faces when they discover that in game and again when they learn it really happened.

Most, most excellent.