The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico (Ch 7 Pt 2) (Gentle Reading)

Bernal Diaz del Castillo's "The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico" is a footsoldier's autobiography written as a rebuttal to the official biography of Hernan Cortez. Of the two it is also the more approachable work. The shift in focus from the famous conquistador to his troops gives the book the feel of a novel.
And you can actually read it as a novel if you like.... The original manuscript dates to the mid-1500's and it has been in the public domain for centuries, but in 1990 the extremely recognizable tale was adapted into the Maztica Trilogy by TSR, Inc. generally by removing a syllable or two from each name and reskinning a few characters as elves and dwarves.
Chapter 7 follows the conquistadors' flight from Tenochtitlan. In the second half Cortez' attempt at deception fails utterly and they must fight their way out. Much of the gold is left behind, and the bulk of the auxiliaries, Narvaez' men, the horses and all of the cannons are lost. And it is soon learned that Cortez' many allies aren't worth much when he's losing.
Jorge Madrid's - The Fall of Tenochtitlan
( • Jorge Madrid - The Fal... ) provides the principle background image and music in this piece. To add visual flair,, I have overlaid Sunrise, Moving Clouds and Flying Birds - Background Loop
( • Sunrise, moving clouds... ). Both are used under UA-cam's creative commons license and are credited here because I think they did great work.