The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter

by Jason McCammon

Some six hundred years ago, well before the Forbidden Expanse had gotten its name, a man named Tumba lived nearby the Green Mountian; which later became the Angry Mountain. Tumba was a brilliant man, educated in art, war, weaponry and engineering. As the men of the world began to make better and more destructive weapons, he began to build better houses, fortresses, and walls, to keep them out. He was good at what he did, building. Noone in the Madunia could match his skill.

  A sorceress, by the name of Byo, learned of his skill, and needed his assistance.

  “I have many enemies,” she explained to him. “This is a dangerous world that we live in, and there will always be those who wish to take my power.”

  “What is it that you need from me?” Tumba asked.

  “My fortress is strong, but I wish for it to be stronger. I want you to build me a wall around it so that should my enemies come, they will fail. If you do this for me, you will never go hungry, and you will never be poor.”

  Tumba had no family and spent his life traveling from village to village. He figured he had nothing to lose and accepted the offer of the sorceress.

  He began planning the wall, and lived inside her fortress for his stay. Tumba’s skill was so great, that it got the attention of the god Shango. Shango was the god of lighting and war. He wielded a mighty hammer so powerful that when he used it for battle, it caused the thunder and lightning in the sky. Shango told Tumba that he was so impressed by his work, that he could use one of his godly hammers for his craft whenever he needed. When it became time, he asked the god Shango for his hammer and used it to begin building the wall.

  Soon he came to meet a young maiden, Tuana (Too-wana), who was also Byo’s cousin. Tuana was beautiful and in no time she and Tumba found themselves spending every free moment together. After a while, Tuana became distant.

  “I have been terribly hurt in the past,” she said, “by men who have only wanted me for my beauty, and never really loved me. So I must ask you, do you love me?”

  “Yes, I do.” Tumba desperately answered. “I am yours forever and will prove it to you if need be by any means.”

  So, she set him to a task.

  “Three days walk from here,” she said, “there is a field with only one tree. The tree is large and cannot be missed. Its leaves are small, but its flowers are large and blue. When the wind blows, the flowers scatter all around, so when you begin to see them on the ground, you will know that you are close. The tree’s trunk is large and a hole at its base will lead you inside. Go into it and follow it down under the ground. The tunnel is tight, and long, but if you keep your wits, you can make it through. It will lead you to a cave that sits under a nearby pond. The cave’s ceiling is made of crystal. It is hard to see what is on the other side, none the less, when the sun shines through the pond, that light will reach the cave below.”

  She sat next to him, and took his hand. “My love, in this cave is a flower that only blooms with the energy of the sun. It is called a Bloom Flower. Every night, after the sun has finished its journey across the sky, its petals close, and the stem of the flower recedes back into the soil. The task I ask of you is to bring me one of these flowers alive and well. If you do, I will be yours forever.”

  Without hesitation, he agreed. He first told his employer, Byo, that he would be leaving for a week or so, and then he set out, with the wall unfinished.

  The journey was not too hard for him. He walked for days until he saw the blue petals, and followed them to the tree. He found the hole and went inside. He slowly made his way down the dark tunnel where he squeezed through the moist soil, and into the cave.

  He wondered how she had known of this place, and of the flower that grew here. Had she, herself, been here before? He gazed at the rays of sunlight that found their way through the pond and the crystal ceiling above. All around him were the flowers, bright with moving colors of liquid on their petals. She had never described the flowers themselves too him. He was delighted that she had not. To experience them in this way, first hand without expectation, was a pleasure all its own.

  He grabbed a few, placed them in a pouch, and made his way back through the tunnel and out of the tree. Later, as he walked back towards his home, he reached into his pouch to once again gaze upon the beauty of the flowers. He smiled, both in admiration of the flower, and foreseeing his return to his love. His smile faded as he noticed the movement of the color on the flower slowed. The stem became limp, and the color itself, like a liquid, began to pour off of the petal onto the dirt by his feet.

  He tried to catch it with his hand, and managed to save some, but the color faded and what once was a moving vibrant rainbow of color, was now a black sludge. The stem also wilted and was now a limp black strand. His heart dropped into his stomach. “Bring me one of these flowers alive and well,” she had said to him. This flower was not alive and well at all.

  He desperately went back to the cave to get another, but he had the same result. The flowers only lasted a short time after they were picked, and then they died. It seemed that he could do nothing to stop it, but he kept trying.

  He tried carrying dirt with a flower; he tried keeping one in water, and he tried dirt and water. He tried for days and nothing he did seemed to work. He was frustrated, but determined.

  He went back to Byo’s fortress to Tuana and told her of his failure. She was disappointed and did not want to give herself to him until he had finished the task he had promised. But then she realized how much she truly loved him, and told him that it did not matter. She was still impressed that he had spent so much effort in trying. There was no longer a need for him to bring her the flower.

  But he persisted and again promised her that he would bring back the flower. He went to Byo and told her that he would again be leaving for a while.

  Byo still was concerned about the integrity of her fortress. “I need a wall,” she said. “One that surrounds my fortress. One big enough and strong enough that no one could penetrate it. One that only you can build.”

  “I cannot build you a wall at this time, M’ lady. I have a task to perform. I cannot build it until I am done.”

  “Task? What task? Why can you not build this wall for me? Have I not treated you well?”

  “My apologies, yes, you have treated me well, but I must perform this task. I cannot tell you what it is, for it is of a personal nature.”

  Annoyed, Byo agreed. “Fine, hurry with your task, whatever it may be. But know that any harm that comes to my people while you are gone is on your head. No one has the skill you do.”

  So Tumba set off to find the answer to the flower. He called upon the god Shango to give him back his hammer, and for two years, he was gone. No one saw him. But he still did not have a way to carry the flower. He went to different lands to find answers, but found none.

  Byo had someone else build her a wall, and when war came it was not strong enough to keep her enemies out. Many people died. When Tumba came back and faced the Sorceress, she asked him, “Do you see what has happened? Do you see the ruins of the wall that failed? I still triumphed over my enemy, no thanks to you. But many of my people died in the attack. If you had built the wall as you promised, those people would still be alive. Well, did you at least finish your task?”

  “I did not.” He replied, dropping to his knees. “I was to find a way to carry the bloom flower back to Tuana without it dying. This, I promised her, but for years, I have failed.”

  Byo laughed.

  “What is so funny?” Tumba asked.

  “If you would have told me this before, I could have given you the answer. I am a sorceress, and we know these things.”

  Tumba was both happy and disturbed by this. He cried out to Byo. “Please,” he asked, “I beg you to tell me. I have sought long and hard to bring this flower to my love as I have promised her.

  “I will tell you the secret, but if I do, will you build me
my wall?”

  “Yes, I will build you your wall. I will build a wall that only the gods themselves could penetrate.”

  “Okay then. Here is what you already may know about the bloom flowers. At night, they suck themselves back into the soil. If you pluck them, even during the day, they won’t even last an hour before they die. But, if you can let their stems feed directly off of the sun’s energy, they will live for quite some time.”

  “What must I do?” he desperately asked.

  She continued, “most animals do not cry, but there is one that does. The Lemadu is a nocturnal animal. They cannot stand the sunlight, and so they sleep in caves as bats do. So if you were to bring one of its young out during the day, the strength of the sun’s energy would be too much for it. It will cry in the sunshine. You must bottle up its tears for only they have the magical ability to store the sun’s energy in its purist form. A couple of drops of their tears mixed with water should do the trick.”

  Tumba was graciously happy and went on his way. He found the Lemadu cave. He waited ‘til day, snuck in and brought one of the young into the daylight. In moments, the little animal started screaming, and like Byo had told him, the tears came rushing out. He collected them in a vial and was relieved.

  He took the tears, mixed them with some water, put the mixture in a container, plucked his flower, put it in the container, and waited. An hour went passed and the flower had not died. Two hours went passed, and still the flower stood strong.

  He took it to Tuana who had been longing for his return. They were happy, and the flower remained in bloom in a house that he had built for her. He again asked the God Shango if he might wield his hammer for the construction of the wall that he had promised Byo. And again, impressed with Tumba’s determination and skill, Shango came down and placed his hammer in Tumba’s hand.

  He began building the wall during the day, and at night, Shango came back for his hammer. Tumba went with Tuana. They began seeing each other more and more until his work on the wall slowed. He decided that again, he would take some time off and spend it solely with Tuana away from the kingdom.

  The Sorceress protested. “You must finish my wall,” she said, “once again, my enemies are drawing near. You are the only one who can wield the god Shango’s hammer. I can’t let you leave until the wall is finished.”

  “I will finish your wall,” he said, but for the first time, he cared nothing about his promise. All he cared about was being with Tuana. Their lives had left them with little time to embrace each other, and it gradually wore on him. Instead of building the wall, he went to Tuana.

  “You must go away with me,” he said.

  “But my cousin, Byo, will not allow it. I want to be with you, only you, but we must wait.”

  “I cannot wait,” he exclaimed. “She will always want me to build something for her; she will never let me out of her clutches. We must leave now and never come back to this place.”

  “If we leave now, people will see us.” She pleaded. “Let’s at least wait until the height of night, when all are sleeping.”

  “Fine then,” he agreed, “but I will leave now. I do not wish to see Byo again. Meet me on the Green Mountain to the south. I will wait there for you. I will not leave until you have come.”

  It was settled. Tumba set out for the Green Mountain, leaving the wall unfinished.

  That night members of the Mumba Clan penetrated the fortress. They stole trinkets and gems. They also kidnapped people for trade. They came into Tuana’s quarters and bound and gagged her too quickly for her to resist, and they were off.

  The next Day, Tumba waited for Tuana, but she never came. He wondered what happened to her. Perhaps she was unable to sneak away and he would have to wait another day. And that he did, wait for her for another day, and another, and another, and another. Months went by and still Tuana never came.

  Meanwhile Byo was angered at Tumba for fleeing. She was angry with the Mumba tribe for their theft and sent troops out to retrieve her little cousin, but it was too late. Tuana had been sold and taken far away. For a while, Byo thought that maybe Tumba had been taken too, but a man that had traveled to the Green Mountain revealed that Tumba was living there, alive and well. So, she went to him.

  “Why did you leave my fortress?” she asked. “Why did you not finish my wall?”

  Tumba was disgusted with her. “I left to be with Tuana, I no longer wish to build for you.”

  “But you PROMISED me a wall, a wall that no one could penetrate except for the gods themselves. And besides, Tuana has been taken and sold. She is nowhere to be found. For all I know, she could be dead by now.”

  “Tuana is not dead! She and I share a true love. I am in favor with the gods; they would never do such a thing to me. I will wait here until she returns.”

  “Then you rescind your promise to me? Foolish boy, had you built my wall in the first place, we would not be in this predicament! Tuana would have been safe! The two of you would have wanted for nothing!”

  “I will not leave this mountain until Tuana returns.” He turned his back on her and went up the mountain.

  Byo was furious. She went to her fortress and sent men out to bring Tumba back. Tumba saw the men coming up the mountain, and asked the god Shango once again for his hammer. Once again, Shango allowed him to wield his mighty hammer of lighting thunder.

  But instead of using it to build, he used it to kill. For ten years Byo sent men up the mountain to bring Tumba back, and for ten years he swung the mighty Shango hammer to strike them down causing thunder and lightning on the mountain. But this was not how it got the name Angry Mountain.

  Finally, Byo gave up, and she let Tumba stay on that mountain, and for twenty more years, he sat waiting. Byo had some trying times. She had wall after wall built, but eventually all were taken down by her enemies until she was finally defeated.

  She went back to the mountain to see Tumba. “I have been defeated.” she said. “All because you broke your promise to me.

  “I will not come off this mountain, until Tuana returns to me,” he replied.

  “So be it, then,” she said. “On this mountain you will stay!” She cast a spell on him and the mountain. The spell killed him, took his soul from his body, and placed it in the mountain. “Now you will never leave this mountain!”

  She left the mountain.

  Tumba's soul was so angered, that when he became enraged, the mountain shook; the boulders roared and tumbled, and lava spewed up from its belly.

  Thus began the name Angry Mountain, for he was so enraged at the sorceress for putting his soul inside of it, and even angrier because he missed his love, Tuana. So from time to time, he yelled and he roared, and the angry mountain was responsible for many deaths of anyone that traveled near by.

  Byo, being defeated, became a wonderer, with no kingdom of her own. She used her sorcery to get what she needed, and lived her life. A hundred years passed; she traveled to a village in the north. She was old, but did not look it, for her sorcery had kept her young. She saw an old woman that looked familiar in the market place skinning a possum. “Excuse me,” she said, “but do I know you?”

  “Of course you do.” The old woman said. “I am Tuana, your little cousin.”

  “My gosh, Tuana! I thought you had died, long ago!”

  “I was captured,” she said. “And a slave for many years. When I got free, I went to your fortress, but it was ruled by another. Then, I went to the green mountain since I was supposed to meet Tumba there. Alas, he must have died, for I could not find him either, since then, I have roamed alone.”

  Then Byo told her, how Tumba had gone to the mountain and of the years that he waited for her. She told her how Tumba did not finish his wall as he had promised, and she also told her that she killed him, and placed his soul in the mountain.

  Tuana became furious. With one quick motion, she cut off Byo�
�s head. Byo would have been strong enough to easily defeat Tuana, but she did not expect the attack from her little cousin. Byo’s body dropped to the ground but her powers were not lost. All of Byo’s great power and knowledge entered Tuana, because she was the closest family member to Byo at the time. She regained her youth as well.

  Tuana went to the mountain. When she got there it rumbled loudly.

  Then the mountain calmed as Tumba realized that finally his love had come, but he could not speak. Tuana sat there, for two hundred more years, because she truly loved him, until even her magic could not keep her young anymore. Soon she knew that she would die and that they would no longer be together. So she devised a plan.

  She went to the Lemadu cave and grabbed the tears from the young one. She mixed those tears with water. She went to the tree with the large blue flowers and crawled through the tunnel. She got the bloom flower and placed the stem into a container and brought it to the mountain.

  “Now, my dear, what you once did for me, I have done for you.”

  She poured the water and tears into the soil of his mountain and planted the flower. The flower sat there in the ground, beautiful as always. Next, she knelt down beside it and died, pouring all of herself into the flower, until she became a part of it.

  More bloom flowers sprouted, and they too were also a part of her. And so, they were joined, Tumba and Tuana; he was the mountain, and she was the flowers that grew upon it.

  The Angry Mountain would now be calm and happy, only angered if someone tried to pick the bloom flowers. There they would stay forever………

  Chapter 13

  FLOGGIN THE NOGGIN