Post by Mindobwe on Jan 16, 2006 21:56:41 GMT -5
Stalker in the Forest
A story by Haulib of the Shombe
We were back exploring the bIda rainforest after resting a few days in Mounchili village and getting fresh supplies. While we were in the village, we had noticed that the blue lion was gone. We were told that the adventurers who had entered the forest ahead of us had returned while we were away. They had explored the southern trails and found a few talking lizards and a very small, abandoned kosan ruin, a dome of stone. They had been commissioned by the villagers to guard the blue lion on its journey to the emperor and had left Mounchili a few days earlier. Unfortunately we did not get to ask them any questions about what they saw out in the dark forest.
When it was time for us to leave, again we headed north, working our way through the trails on the map we purchased from a monkey trapper in the village. We took our time, moving quietly and camping without lights in the night that might attract predators. On the second day we found a hideout used by hunters. It was a small cave, hidden by a screen of woven sticks, grass and leaves. That night we slept in the cave and rested well, sleeping on the ground again for the first time in weeks.
Near dusk the following day we found the end of one trail when it reached the banks of a wide, swiftly flowing river of gray-green water. The water rushed quietly by, huge volumes of water, all moving quietly and quickly through the forest. We moved back, away from the water before setting up camp for the night and again we were undisturbed through the hot, noisy night.
We turned south, following trails that eventually led in a loop back toward Mounchili. As we were still heading away to the southwest, on our sixth day away from the village, the n'anga became a farsi, possessed by a spirit. During this time he had a strange vision. He saw a spectral form of a humanoid figure merging with the body of a dire lion. The lion became something unnatural, no longer a lion. A spirit controlled it and it read from scrolls and cast spells like an mchawi. Then the dire lion drank a potion and became an undead dire lion. This transformed lion fought many human women warriors armed with swords and bows. The undead lion fell in battle against the women but the lion's heart was cut out by the strange humanoid figures. The heart was shriveled and an evil black color. It continued to beat even after it left the undead lion's body.
SombUnto felt that the humanoid figures were Kosans and the women were the fabled Amazons, but beyond that, he could make little sense of the vision. The orisha had left him without an explanation.
We stayed out in the rainforest for two more days, exploring trails and finding little. With our food running low, and only the trails explored by the other adventurers remaining in this part of the forest, we headed back to Mounchili. We returned after 8 days in the forest with little new information. Back at the village we did speak with a N'anga elder about SombUnto's vision. He explained that the dire lion was a reincarnated mchawi but he was unable to explain the part dealing with the undead lion.
We were getting familiar with the village by this time and we quickly planned our next expedition and got more fresh supplies. We would next head to the northeastern part of our map and try to explore the trail that crosses the big river. If necessary, we would push north from there and continue on, off the edge of our map.
On the night of our return we were invited by the wakyambi to stay as guests of their clan and meet with the clan's "Bangu". I didn't know what a bangu was but after many questions that got us only cryptic answers, we guessed that the bangu was a sort of n'anga of the bIda forest orisha. We were taken to a very nice round hut, high up in the trees where we feasted on fruit and fruit juices in the company of a monkey, a parrot and a lizard who acted like pets but were uncaged. I went out after eating, looking for the bangu, but couldn't find him. The wakyambi can be very frustrating to talk to when they wish to be. When I asked one about meeting the bangu he simply responded with the question "didn't you?"
I returned to the hut to nap until the bangu arrived. As I was trying to sleep, Ole tUbi was busy talking with the animals. It was fortunate that he did, for through his actions we discovered that the parrot Chaga was a n'anga in transformed for a brief time into a bird. He changed back when we discovered this and seemed very amused with his trick. He wanted to know why we were here and was not content until he learned that we were on a spiritual journey and that Bedaga the Trickster was involved.
We told him of our guide the oryx and in return he told us that something evil in the forest was causing animals to be "awakened" by its awful power. The animals were serving something of great evil. Chaga was the guardian of this part of the forest but the evil had grown beyond his power. He had recently subdued an awakened elephant but the feat had taken all his strength. SombUnto then told Chaga his vision and the strange tale seemed to make sense to the old wakyambi. He said that the evil black lion heart was controlling the animals.
As gifts for helping defeat this evil he gave us several vials of antitoxin, a very fine whip and a beautifully crafted spear tipped with wicked barbs. He also performed a ceremony and gave us a blessing that would keep all the natural, unawakened animals away from us for the next several days. This, he hoped, would help us travel more swiftly. He left us to rest then and we slept well as guests of the wakyambi.
Chaga's blessing did help us travel swiftly. We reached the gray-green river in five days. Along the way our only fight was a brief battle with a dangerous plant that shot thorns at us like arrows. One thorn drove deep into my leg but fortunately when I pulled it out, the wound was clean, not poisoned . The monster sat atop a huge pile of decaying vegetation and the bodies of its previous victims. When it died, its branches drooped and it stopped moving altogether. In the end, none of us could really tell if it had been a plant or an animal. It could move about a bit on root-like legs but had every appearance of being a big plant. In the detritus under its roots we found gold and silver coins, flasks of acid and holy water
After crossing the river we found four wakyambi tied up by their feet, hanging upside down from a huge fig tree. We got them safely to the ground without being attacked by spiders or any other monsters only to find that two were already dead. The other two were weak but we nursed them through the night and they survived the ordeal. They were herb collectors who had been attacked by a deadly leopard. They had no idea how they had gotten into the tree. As we talked with them through the night, we told them of our encounter days before with other herb collectors and they were happy to learn that their companions had made it to the safety of Mounchili with our help. In the morning they were ready to make their way back to their own village, ten miles north of here through the forest. We gave them a couple of weapons and a bit of food to help them on their way. Before they left us they filled in a bit more of the map to the north, but were not able to provide much detail as they rarely used trails as we must.
On our own again, we made our way further north. Along the way, hiding on a branch above the trail, we spotted the leopard. It was hunting us, ready to pounce. Yakubu and I silently hatched a plan to lure it into diving onto our spears before it realized we knew it was there. Unfortunately the flash of light given off by Runako's mental power surge alerted the cat and it leapt on us before I was ready for it. As it hit me it said "die!" It latched on with its teeth and wouldn't let go. Its claws tore into me as it held on. I told it that one of us was surely going to die but it wasn't going to be me. I dropped my spear and grabbed it by the throat, striving to choke it to death before it shredded me with its claws. My friends were busy piercing the cat with their own weapons as the cat and I grappled and struggled to survive. Komasa summoned a glowing spirit with a lion's head to fight with us and SombUnto's orisha sent cool healing power flowing through me as I began to weaken. Then the leopard finally went limp from loss of blood and lack of air and I reclaimed my heavy spear, weapon of my people and of my father's people and stabbed the evil beast through its heart. SombUnto tried to take the skin as a trophy for us, but it was too badly torn to be of any use. I did take several of the cat's long teeth and all of its claws to hang on a necklace.
I was grateful that day for SombUnto's ashe and the healing potions and salves we had gotten in Mounchili. I needed them to patch up all the damage done by the leopard. Even healed by the orisha though, I slept fitfully that night. I thought that my restlessness was caused by the fight during the day but the events of the following day proved a better explanation. For it was that next day when we discovered the lair of the black heart of evil in the bIda forest.
A story by Haulib of the Shombe
We were back exploring the bIda rainforest after resting a few days in Mounchili village and getting fresh supplies. While we were in the village, we had noticed that the blue lion was gone. We were told that the adventurers who had entered the forest ahead of us had returned while we were away. They had explored the southern trails and found a few talking lizards and a very small, abandoned kosan ruin, a dome of stone. They had been commissioned by the villagers to guard the blue lion on its journey to the emperor and had left Mounchili a few days earlier. Unfortunately we did not get to ask them any questions about what they saw out in the dark forest.
When it was time for us to leave, again we headed north, working our way through the trails on the map we purchased from a monkey trapper in the village. We took our time, moving quietly and camping without lights in the night that might attract predators. On the second day we found a hideout used by hunters. It was a small cave, hidden by a screen of woven sticks, grass and leaves. That night we slept in the cave and rested well, sleeping on the ground again for the first time in weeks.
Near dusk the following day we found the end of one trail when it reached the banks of a wide, swiftly flowing river of gray-green water. The water rushed quietly by, huge volumes of water, all moving quietly and quickly through the forest. We moved back, away from the water before setting up camp for the night and again we were undisturbed through the hot, noisy night.
We turned south, following trails that eventually led in a loop back toward Mounchili. As we were still heading away to the southwest, on our sixth day away from the village, the n'anga became a farsi, possessed by a spirit. During this time he had a strange vision. He saw a spectral form of a humanoid figure merging with the body of a dire lion. The lion became something unnatural, no longer a lion. A spirit controlled it and it read from scrolls and cast spells like an mchawi. Then the dire lion drank a potion and became an undead dire lion. This transformed lion fought many human women warriors armed with swords and bows. The undead lion fell in battle against the women but the lion's heart was cut out by the strange humanoid figures. The heart was shriveled and an evil black color. It continued to beat even after it left the undead lion's body.
SombUnto felt that the humanoid figures were Kosans and the women were the fabled Amazons, but beyond that, he could make little sense of the vision. The orisha had left him without an explanation.
We stayed out in the rainforest for two more days, exploring trails and finding little. With our food running low, and only the trails explored by the other adventurers remaining in this part of the forest, we headed back to Mounchili. We returned after 8 days in the forest with little new information. Back at the village we did speak with a N'anga elder about SombUnto's vision. He explained that the dire lion was a reincarnated mchawi but he was unable to explain the part dealing with the undead lion.
We were getting familiar with the village by this time and we quickly planned our next expedition and got more fresh supplies. We would next head to the northeastern part of our map and try to explore the trail that crosses the big river. If necessary, we would push north from there and continue on, off the edge of our map.
On the night of our return we were invited by the wakyambi to stay as guests of their clan and meet with the clan's "Bangu". I didn't know what a bangu was but after many questions that got us only cryptic answers, we guessed that the bangu was a sort of n'anga of the bIda forest orisha. We were taken to a very nice round hut, high up in the trees where we feasted on fruit and fruit juices in the company of a monkey, a parrot and a lizard who acted like pets but were uncaged. I went out after eating, looking for the bangu, but couldn't find him. The wakyambi can be very frustrating to talk to when they wish to be. When I asked one about meeting the bangu he simply responded with the question "didn't you?"
I returned to the hut to nap until the bangu arrived. As I was trying to sleep, Ole tUbi was busy talking with the animals. It was fortunate that he did, for through his actions we discovered that the parrot Chaga was a n'anga in transformed for a brief time into a bird. He changed back when we discovered this and seemed very amused with his trick. He wanted to know why we were here and was not content until he learned that we were on a spiritual journey and that Bedaga the Trickster was involved.
We told him of our guide the oryx and in return he told us that something evil in the forest was causing animals to be "awakened" by its awful power. The animals were serving something of great evil. Chaga was the guardian of this part of the forest but the evil had grown beyond his power. He had recently subdued an awakened elephant but the feat had taken all his strength. SombUnto then told Chaga his vision and the strange tale seemed to make sense to the old wakyambi. He said that the evil black lion heart was controlling the animals.
As gifts for helping defeat this evil he gave us several vials of antitoxin, a very fine whip and a beautifully crafted spear tipped with wicked barbs. He also performed a ceremony and gave us a blessing that would keep all the natural, unawakened animals away from us for the next several days. This, he hoped, would help us travel more swiftly. He left us to rest then and we slept well as guests of the wakyambi.
Chaga's blessing did help us travel swiftly. We reached the gray-green river in five days. Along the way our only fight was a brief battle with a dangerous plant that shot thorns at us like arrows. One thorn drove deep into my leg but fortunately when I pulled it out, the wound was clean, not poisoned . The monster sat atop a huge pile of decaying vegetation and the bodies of its previous victims. When it died, its branches drooped and it stopped moving altogether. In the end, none of us could really tell if it had been a plant or an animal. It could move about a bit on root-like legs but had every appearance of being a big plant. In the detritus under its roots we found gold and silver coins, flasks of acid and holy water
After crossing the river we found four wakyambi tied up by their feet, hanging upside down from a huge fig tree. We got them safely to the ground without being attacked by spiders or any other monsters only to find that two were already dead. The other two were weak but we nursed them through the night and they survived the ordeal. They were herb collectors who had been attacked by a deadly leopard. They had no idea how they had gotten into the tree. As we talked with them through the night, we told them of our encounter days before with other herb collectors and they were happy to learn that their companions had made it to the safety of Mounchili with our help. In the morning they were ready to make their way back to their own village, ten miles north of here through the forest. We gave them a couple of weapons and a bit of food to help them on their way. Before they left us they filled in a bit more of the map to the north, but were not able to provide much detail as they rarely used trails as we must.
On our own again, we made our way further north. Along the way, hiding on a branch above the trail, we spotted the leopard. It was hunting us, ready to pounce. Yakubu and I silently hatched a plan to lure it into diving onto our spears before it realized we knew it was there. Unfortunately the flash of light given off by Runako's mental power surge alerted the cat and it leapt on us before I was ready for it. As it hit me it said "die!" It latched on with its teeth and wouldn't let go. Its claws tore into me as it held on. I told it that one of us was surely going to die but it wasn't going to be me. I dropped my spear and grabbed it by the throat, striving to choke it to death before it shredded me with its claws. My friends were busy piercing the cat with their own weapons as the cat and I grappled and struggled to survive. Komasa summoned a glowing spirit with a lion's head to fight with us and SombUnto's orisha sent cool healing power flowing through me as I began to weaken. Then the leopard finally went limp from loss of blood and lack of air and I reclaimed my heavy spear, weapon of my people and of my father's people and stabbed the evil beast through its heart. SombUnto tried to take the skin as a trophy for us, but it was too badly torn to be of any use. I did take several of the cat's long teeth and all of its claws to hang on a necklace.
I was grateful that day for SombUnto's ashe and the healing potions and salves we had gotten in Mounchili. I needed them to patch up all the damage done by the leopard. Even healed by the orisha though, I slept fitfully that night. I thought that my restlessness was caused by the fight during the day but the events of the following day proved a better explanation. For it was that next day when we discovered the lair of the black heart of evil in the bIda forest.