Man-
Man’s continual quest for knowledge and power has always proven to be a temptation, hard to overcome. When man first discovered crystals and gems, it was only their beauty that enticed him, so he used them for decoration and trade. Soon, with the rise of magic, man discovered that these same crystals and gems could amplify their power. Thereafter they became the tool of sorcery as well.
Knowledge of sorcery grew. Its power was handed down by teachings and bloodlines until new races of man emerged: shaman, witch doctors, and sorcerers such as the Animen and the Leopard Tribe. Sorcery was a gift from the gods, usually subject to their rules and approval. However, men’s thirst for power led them to obtain sorcery by unnatural means, without the gods’ approval. Thus, men became subject to the wrath of the gods, punished by death or cursed.
Staffs-
The knowledge of staff making is only known by a select few. Yet, all sorcerers may wield one. Usually forged from a sacred tree, (trees being a conduit —a connection between man’s world and the next) each staff is to be used by only one sorcerer, and it is, therefore, bound to him alone. Only on very rare occasions has a staff ever allowed itself to be used by another. Let me stress this point again; only on very, very, rare occasions.
The bond between a sorcerer and his staff continues throughout the sorcerer’s life, and beyond death. Even a staff that is given to a young boy newly using his magic will grow as the boy does. So, this symbiotic relationship between man and his staff is not one to be taken lightly. Also, there is one other valid point to make about staffs; they cannot be destroyed by any normal means.
Crystals-
Most crystals or gems will amplify a sorcerer’s power to some degree, but there is always a perfect match for each sorcerer. One that will do for him what no other can. And at times it is a combination of crystals that will do the trick. That is why different sorcerers have with various gems embedded in their staffs. Some use rubies, some use onyx, and others, diamonds perhaps.
And so, the staff became a combination of crystal and staff; where the crystal could be interchanged, but the staff could not. (Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule.)
A witch doctor named Hatari used diamonds. Witch doctors are not inherently evil. Hatari, however, had chosen to use his power for his own greed. Like his brothers and his sister, Nyani, he too was cruel. They all sought to obtain more power. They wanted to control the Ancient Lands. They took over most of Madunia, each doing destruction and chaos in his or her own region. For some time, Hatari had been the laughing stock among his siblings. He was the only one who had not obtained control over any of the inhabited lands. King Jott, Jumbe’s grandfather, had managed to keep him at bay, convincing him not to enter his kingdom or go beyond the boundaries of the Forbidden Expanse, located at the southern end of Madunia.
Hatari knew that getting control of the Ifa Scepter would take its toll on the well-being of the Kingdom of Ufalme, the only kingdom that stood in his way of moving his army north, into the inhabited lands of Madunia.
Hatari chose his time of attack wisely. He waited until King Jott was on his deathbed, and using the slight confusion of the change of power to his advantage, he posted his troops just out the view of Ufalme’s guards until he heard word of the funeral. Then he ordered his army to attack.
He knew that he could not win the battle. Ufalme’s army was far too large and too well trained by Jott’s generals to be beaten by his ogre’s, but there was enough of a distraction for him to sneak himself inside and grab the Ifa Scepter. King Jumbe’s father, Haki was less of a mystical man than his father, Jott. And when his time came to rule, he did not pursue the scepter. Sadly, his reign was short. In a sickened state, he fell into a deep sleep and never woke up. When Jumbe received the throne, he was young. He followed in his father’s footsteps, never giving the Ifa Scepter a second thought.
So, the scepter remained with Hatari. Thus he built his army, larger, and stronger, while the prosperity of Ufalme dwindled. Over time, the scepter was making him more powerful than ever before.
He combined the scepter's power with the crystals that he knew would make him stronger —diamonds. Yet he was not satisfied with the two that he kept in the eyes of his skull and bones staff. Insatiably, he wanted a mountain filled with them. He would use them and the scepter to reach the height of his power. He would not leave before his power was at its peak, and yes, this took years.
He employed ogres to mine the mountains for him and to do most of his bidding. It was not hard for him to convince the ogre-kind that man was their enemy and that they should obey and work for him. Man had treated them as outcasts since their race emerged. He told them that they must rise up and destroy mankind, or man would eventually destroy them.
It was not difficult to control them, and they did not mind hard work. Unlike men, they were not strong-willed creatures. They were brutish, unthinking beings with no intelligence for growth or growth of intelligence for that matter. He never worried that they would ever rise up against him, because they had no ambitions of their own. They wanted a leader, and they wanted to follow.
Hatari walked through one of his mines contentedly. He had gotten used to the smell of carbon, magma, sulfur and the awful stench from ogres. He loved the way he felt when inside his mountain, amongst all those diamonds and rubies, and near the Ifa Scepter.
One day as he watched the progress of his ogres chipping away at the rock inside the mountain, Hatari suddenly felt a strange tingle at the back of his neck. His head jerked up slightly as if someone had a tiny string attached to the back of his head and had gently pulled it. For a split second, he envisioned the Ifa Scepter, and he knew instantly that someone was looking for it. Someone was trying to call upon it. It was under his control and it had warned him.
Chapter 7
RUNES
The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter Page 9
