At the time of Savage Empire, the tribe had come under the dictatorship of the bloodthirsty usurper Huitlapacti, who'd chased away the rightful king Moctapotl after being made invulnerable by the mad Dr. Spector. To break this state of things and return Moctapotl to his rightful place on the throne, the Avatar had to find the ancient city of Kotl, in which the generators were located that held up the invulnerability field. With the field down, the furious people of Tichticotl lynched the hated Huitlapacti, and Moctapotl agreed to send his forces against the Myrmidex when the tribes united.