Danho Taraamene receives a small package from a palace functionary. The courier says the package is part of a larger report sent from Khadis, intended for the new satrap Murad Shah. This smaller package is intended for Danho alone, and is delivered without the satrap’s knowledge.

Opening the package, Danho finds a crude, but serviceable copy of a document in strange cuneiform script, along with a teraph which he identifies as belonging to Sinnis. Unable to decipher the script, he entrusts the palace astrologer, Shalmassar, whom he has befriended, with the document. Working together and using the resources of the palace library and archives, the two discover one part of a tripartite sigil of warding, and are able to decipher the Proto-Susrahnite myth-poem:

Men of bronze1, masters of fire

2

Kings of black jungles beneath a purple spire3

Mad blind hands reach into the night To plumb abysses dead to human sight The Sons of Ishrah

4 adorned with glittering stones

The earth yields riches but claims black bones Tunnels in the earth, and vaults, too Secrets of a lost age remain taboo The one-eyed keeper of secrets

5 knows the way

To the ivory goddess6 who holds the key all must pray

A visitor is announced, seeking audience with Danho Taraamene, a Yar-Ammonite, named Apep, and supposed one-time companion of his lordship. The guest is bathed and anointed, and is presented for an audience. He says he and Ardashir have travelled many weeks from Susrah, their journey delayed by the mighty Khamsin, the vast dust-storm which devastated Zul-Bazzir. Ardashir is arranging lodgings, and sent Apep ahead to rendezvous with Danho. Danho instructs his manservant to receive Apep and Ardashir and his retinue at his new city-palace, while he hides the document in his (partially-repaired) palace in the foreign quarter.

Meanwhile Shalmassar has convinced Danho of the merits of bringing the contents of the document to the attention of the satrap. In time, Murad Shah, anxious to consolidate his own power base in light of the recent tumult, is convinced that the documents are a path to great riches, and orders that an expedition be mounted and abyssal vaults plundered. Danho will, of course, lead the expedition, and by week’s end, the expedition is assembled.

The following aspects of the myth-poem are revealed in due course: 1 Moshedayan is gird in a suit of bronze plate

armour in the style of the Giant Kings of Kuth 2 Ardashir is a member of the hereditary fire

priests, the magi of Zadj 3 The Giant Kings said to have quarried a strange

purple stone for the construction of their cities 4 One of the slave-tribes of the Giant Kings who

chose to head south after the desolation of Elder kuth rather than northeast like the rest of their kind. 5 The guardian in the temple of Nataka in Katanga

has a single, three-lidded eye. Moshedayan, a temple guard, also has but one eye 6 Nataka, a rendering of Belet-Lil in her aspect as a

fertility goddess and the Mother of Monsters

The large caravan strikes out into the rugged wastes south of Zul-Bazzir. As it skirts perilously close to the Risen Hamunaptra, but eludes its hungry guardians. Apep tries to feign surprise, but it is clear that this development was not unexpected… The perilous lands known as the desolation of Elder Kuth are avoided, and instead the expedition’s guides head for the Bahir Oasis in Yar-Ammon, where tributes are paid to the local Badawi tribesmen who lay claim to it, and thereafter, skirting the haunted tomb hills, though the frontiers of Zadj, where Ardashir holds some sway, being careful not to encroach upon the lands of the Slave Sultans of Al-Qazir.

Finally the savannah of Azimba is reached, whereupon the expedition’s scout, Apep, chances upon an apparent slave raid. A man of bronze furiously defends his black master while slavers attempt to make off with porters and concubines. Apep’s interference drives off the remaining slavers, and the caravan is welcomed by the master, a Shoma priest of Nataka, N’kruma, who is returning from temple business among the Azimbans, and his retainer, the impressive half-Kuthite temple guard Moshedayan. Ardahir marvels at the impressive two-handed blade of black iron, a level of mastery undreamed-of by the smiths of the Zadji, clearly an artefact from the reign of the legendary Giant Kings of Kuth.

Thanking the party for its intervention, the two groups join together and spend a relatively trouble-free trek through the lands of the Azimbans into the lands of Mashota, King of Kings of Shoma, to whom N’Kruma will commend the party.

The newcomers are amazed at the incredible wealth on display in Shoma. Large herds of cattle graze lazily in the rich pasturelands, and fully one in ten of them are bedecked in large pectorals and head-dresses of beaten gold, protected by vigilant Royal Cattle-herders. N’Kruma explains, as if able to read the foreigners’ evil thoughts, that everything and everyone in the lands of Shoma belongs to the King of Kings, and woe betide anyone who tries to take what is his… In stark contrast to the vast wealth is the squalor in which the locals live. There is only one “city” in all of Shoma, Katanga, and it is tightly segregated with the priesthood and their families (slaves, servants, concubines, children, legitimate, bastard, or adopted) and the royal household dwelling in the inner city, while the wretched underclass occupies the outer city and beyond. All told, some 8,000 souls call Katanga home. In the centre of the town, N’Kruma proudly boasts, is the temple of Natanga.

Ardashir manages to learn a little of N’Kruma’s business in Azimba: there are reports that the smiths of Zimballah have learned the secret of iron, which N’Kruma can confirm. Immediately he dispatches some loyal retainers to his Order in Zadj to convey the news. He also learns of the bitter infighting within the royal house of Mashota, and the atmosphere of mistrust which he fuels. The convoy arrives at the city gates. Katanga is surrounded by a wooden palisade, inside which the poor, but free people (only foreign slaves are kept) huddle together in wretched huts. However, people do not live to be old, so a large percentage of the population are children and young adults. Most live in buildings of sun-dried mud with roofs of straw along with their animals, such as goats and fowls. The caravan master secures lodgings for his crew while the masters of the expedition are welcomed into the inner city by N’Kruma as honoured guests. They are escorted under a heavily-armed guard lest the under-classes overstep their bounds and dare take up arms against their betters. The spacious inner city (which includes the royal palace and cattle pens, the temple of Nataka, and the goldsmiths’ workshops) is ringed by a great mud-brick wall. The inner city gates are adorned with massive ivory tusks taken from the greatest specimens of elephants; there are 12 spearmen at each gate who make sure that only nobles, royal guards, priests, merchants and foreign dignitaries are allowed entry. The heroes settle in to luxuriously-appointed accommodations in the shadow of the white temple. Immediately Apep works out how to infiltrate it, and disappears for a while.

Using his uncanny talent for disguise, he manages to pass himself off as a black priest and venture as far as an antechamber on the second floor. 1. Temple Compound The temple is an ancient stone tower, circular in shape, four stories and 80 feet tall. The tower is surrounded by a 15 feet tall wall with three gates. One temple guard is always posted at each gate, day and night.

During the day, both priests and visitors to the temple can be found wandering around in the spacious yard in front of the tower. In the south-eastern corner of the compound is a set of great wooden drums, which the temple priests employ to communicate with fellow priests in the villages of Shoma using the secret language of the talking drums.

2. Entrance A huge wooden door is the only entrance into the temple tower; during the day, this door is wide open and even at night it is rarely locked. The high priest relies on the guards to keep out those who attempt to enter the temple unlawfully.

3. Chamber of Worship The worshippers of the ivory goddess Nataka (who include the nobles, merchants and arti-sans of Katanga, but not the common people) are only admitted into the ground floor of the tower. In this great audience chamber, the priests accept the offerings and gifts of the faithful, in return for blessings and omens. Oc-casionally, if a noteworthy visitor comes to the temple, the high priest makes an appearance and utters an important prophecy after the sacrifice of a gold-adorned bull.

The walls of the torch-lit chamber are painted white and decorated with brightly-coloured patterns. Along the walls are flat stone altars with small piles of skulls, having once belonged to important people such as nobles and priests.

Lilith expresses he grave concerns at these most unorthodox practices, and notes that at best, Nataka represents a much more primal aspect of Belet-Lil, one emphasising patriarchal fecundity over sensuality.

4. Priests’ Quarters The shaven-headed priests live in large common rooms on the first floor of the tower. Each room holds six priests and their personal belongings. Among the priests, there is an individual named N’Kruma who is willing to betray his fellow priests if the reward is great enough (see above). 5. Antechamber At the top of the stairway to the second floor hangs a black silken curtain. Behind the cur-tain is a small antechamber. At the other end of the antechamber is a wooden door inset with ivory pieces in the shape of a skull. Returning to his companions, Apep reveals what he has discovered. Of significance is the absence of an idol of the White Goddess; he postulates it must be deeper in the tower, somewhere. The King of Kings will receive the visitors in three days, so time is short. Moshedayan, whose wounds have been tended by Manustishu, as almost made a full recovery. He knows the secrets he seeks will be revealed only with the aid of the Prophesied One. He offers to take up his post and allow the party access to the temple after dark. The Kuthian’s suspicious behaviour is noted by another temple guard, who challenges him. The reply is swift and bloody, and in moments the corpse of the guard in unceremoniously stuffed into one of the great talking drums and the rest of the party enters surreptitiously. Confirming Apep’s findings, the party makes its way to the antechamber. While trying to peek behind the door at the top of the landing, he accidentally ignites the dark gauzy curtain lining the interior of a black chamber.

He quickly puts it out before any real damage is done and the party enters a large square chamber in the middle of which on a raised plinth is an oddly-shaped statue…

6. The Inner Sanctum The marble floor (odd in a mud-brick tower…) around the dais is covered with cuneiform in archaic, proto-Susrahnite script. Danho is able to read the words: “Praise the Ivory Goddess! Praise the Mother Goddess! Her lips are sweet, life is in her mouth.” Two large braziers are either side of the statue. These are lit to reveal the inner sanctum, a 50 ft square room surrounded by opaque black drapes. A symbol is etched into an older slab of marble, a flagstone of sorts, which is stylistically similar to the one on the manuscript sent to Danho, and clearly part of a larger sigil. Danho commits it to memory. Meanwhile, Moshedayan can hear a seductive gurgling sound from behind the curtains. He resists its lure, while Danho counters with a tune of his own. Taking a moment to steel himself, Moshedayan ventures forth only to confront an undreamed-of, three-lidded one-eyed alien monstrous temple guardian (7.):

Even the dauntless Moshedayan withdraws in the face of the horror. He follows his companions out of the sanctum. It knocks over the braziers, plunging the room into darkness once more, and unleashes a bolt of searing light at the Kuthian. A thick sulphurous smell clings to him, assailing the senses as he and the party ready to descend back down the tower. Apep is the first to discover the priests from the lower level mobilising to investigate the disturbance. Turning around, he dashes up to the next higher level, followed by the rest of the party. The tower’s topmost level contains the bed-chamber of the high priest (8.), and what appears to be a library (9.). Apep bursts into the bed-chamber. Yama-Thembu, stands in shock in front of two half-naked pleasure slaves. Before he has a chance to rebuke the intruder, he falls under Apep’s hypnotic spell, and is easily disarmed. Apep determines that the narrow windows of this chamber offer no chance of escape, so he returns to the library, where a much larger window is set into the wall. Danho and Ardashir have little chance to properly appraise the library’s contents before temple guards fall upon Moshdayan (and promptly fall at his feet…). The Kuthian takes the fight to the guards, forcing them down the staircase and luring them into the inner sanctum and to their doom, before hastily exiting the tower as the alarm is raised. Meanwhile Ardashir and Danho rappel down the tower from the library window, and Apep soon follows. All three escape the tower’s courtyard. Ardashir and Danho manage to secure an invitation into the loving arms of some minor noblewomen. Danho is suffering the effects of a long-standing affliction which has affected his manhood, which he has only

just confirmed. On reflection he can attribute this to his encounter with Elipa, one of the Daughters of Rahma in Yaatana. He hopes Manustishu is well-versed in such maladies, but for now has to rely on his honeyed words. Apep, as is his wont, goes to ground. N’Kruma seeks out Moshedayan, apparently aware of his role in the recent disturbance. He tells him to fetch the others, as he has a proposition for them: N’Kruma has been seeking out some treasures himself. He is not a particularly devout adherent of the White Goddess’ faith; he is of Mazanian stock, served as a slave, and later an oblate to a senior priest, before finally being adopted by the man and inheriting his title and rank. Delving into the archives, he has pieced together the following information: “In the centuries after the accursed fall and devastation of Elder Kuth, the former slave peoples of the giant-kings migrated north and east to settle in the lands of Susrah. An offshoot of these proto-Sushrahnites, called the Ishrah, chose instead to wander south into the hills of what is now this kingdom of Shoma. In the jungled hills of Shoma, the Ishrah discovered rich deposits of gold and precious stones. They enslaved the native tribes and set their new slaves to toil day and night in the mines. The small kingdom of the Ishrah pros-pered and a series of purple stone fortresses was built to control the mines. Driven by greed, the Ishrah forced their slaves to dig ever deeper into the rich ore, until one day the toiling workers unearthed a series of stone chambers beneath the mine tunnels. The priests of the Ishrah studied the weird pic-tograms on the walls and deemed it unwise to disturb these prehuman vaults. The mine was sealed off and declared taboo by the priests, and soon the surrounding area was abandoned by the Ishrahnites.”

N’Kruma says his divinations lead him to believe that the party holds the secrets to unlocking the wards, as Apep nods reflexively in agreement. The false priest says he knows where the prophesied purple spire can be located, and together the group can divide the spoils between them. In the uplands known as the Shining Hills, to the south and east of Katanga, and still mined by the Shoma to this day, through trackless vine-covered hills, languish the remnants of the Ishrahnites’ civilisation. There lies the sealed vault and N’Kruma alone can take show the way.

With the help of the fallen priest, the party is ushered out of Katanga under cover of darkness, gathering up support staff and provisions for the trek through the Shining Hills.

Through steaming jungle the party slogs, braving oppressive heat and humidity, stinging, biting insects, and the ever-present threat of ambush and attack by the many predatory beasts lurking therein. Expert trackers arranged by N’Kruma are able to bypass most of the dangers, although Ardashir and Apep fall a pair of monstrous spiders, which are desperately slain before they can make off with their prey. As Apep lies bleeding thanks to a spider’s venomous bite, Danho and Manustishu notice that he transforms into a hideous man-snake hybrid, although, after his recovery and on reflection, both agree he must have just happened to fall and become entangled in the shed skin of a massive serpent, for no other explanation bears consideration. Ardashir having seen Apep before, however, knows better…

In time the party regroups and regains its strength, thanks in large part to the expert care of Manustishu. After several more days of hard trek, the expedition makes contact with a savage black tribe. Of Mazanian stock, but sporting odd physical deformities, the tribesmen are cautious at first, but welcoming. N’Kruma’s knowledge of the Shoman tongue allows for stilted, but adequate communication. The Wamuban dialect is quite easy to pick up, and before long the more learned members of the expedition have mastered the rudiments of the language. On the third day, the party, led by the Wamuban guides, arrives at their village. The Wamuba live in almost total isolation from the outside world. There are currently around 300 members of the tribe; two-thirds

are adult warriors and the rest are young boys. The heroes soon notice that there are no women to be seen anywhere. All members of the tribe seem odd to a greater or lesser extent, with many of the tribesmen bearing gross physical (but not overly debilitating) defects, such as missing or bulging eyes, weirdly twisted arms or feet, purple boils or cysts, extra or missing digits on hands or feet, and so on. The majority still seem to be are still capable warriors.

The heroes learn that the Wamuba are ruled by a matriarchal queen, Nugga-Tikanda, the mother-wife of the tribe. Her royal consort is the tribal champion, Tibaa, a powerful warrior and Nugga-Tikanda’s champion, who is sure to view these newcomers as a threat to his position.

M’wanza, the hunchback, is the village’s chief-steward, elder, and the queen’s messenger, who has a good command of the Shoma language, and who seems to take a shine to Danho and Ardashir in particular.

Of particular note is the absence of any women or girls in the village. M’wanza explains that only to the queen is given the honour of childbirth. Thus it has been for as long as oral tradition holds. Any girls born of the queen are given in tribute to the neighbouring Man-Apes of the nearby hills.

M’wanza explains the tribe’s custom is that a champion among the new arrivals must confront the tribal champion in single combat to vie for the favour of the queen. Naturally the Kuthian, Moshedayan is selected, and once the party is refreshed, the entire village relocates to the ancient arena in the purple ruins, above. The mood is festive and celebratory, and the chosen champions are feted before the contest begins.

Before the fighting begins, the corpulent queen of the tribe, in prime of womanhood is carried into her seat by six bearers, who strain under the weight of the litter. At Nugga-Tikanda’s signal, the combatants face off against each other.

The fight takes place on a narrow platform over a deep pit. Small tunnels are bored into the base of the pit, and a disconcerting chittering can occasionally be heard above the din of the excited onlookers.

Tibaa’s mighty blows threaten to topple the Kuthian into the pit, but his sure-footedness prevails, and after a furious flurry of blows, the tribal champion plunges into the pit below, only to be dragged away, screaming by several tentacled creatures.

The victorious Moshedayan is raised aloft by the cheering Wamubans before being presented to the approving queen. He is appointed new tribal champion, and is returned to the village while the queen returns to her royal compound among the purple ruins, nearby. The feast is held in the village at nightfall the same day; it quickly develops into drunken revelry as the tribesmen consume prodigious quantities of banana wine. Nugga-Tikanda herself is not present during the feast.

M’wanza reveals that Nugga-Tikanda is “very old”, and that “it is said that she murdered her husband, the last chieftain of the Wamuba. She knows the secrets of witchcraft which has made her immortal”. This last point piques Moshedayan’s interest; he is ever on the lookout for the forbidden lore of the ancients.

Furthermore, M’wanza says, “she is the mother of us all — every living man of the tribe is both her husband and her son”.

Apep learns a little about the long-abandoned mines of the Ishrah, and resolves to investigate these for himself, but perhaps now is not the time.

At the height of the feast, around midnight, a group of Nugga-Tikanda’s personal guards ap-pear and talk to M’wanza. The hunchback then announces to the heroes that the queen wishes to mate with her new consort; the celebrated champion must follow the queen’s guard alone back to the purple ruins, decorated with weird iconography and primal fertility idols. Apep follows surreptitiously. Moshedayan, at the urging of his familiar, Zul, who stands to learn powerful sorcery from the witch-queen, complies with the odd

demand. Every night for a week he performs the duties of the consort, giving the rest of the expedition an opportunity to rest, replenish and consolidate its position. Meanwhile, Ardashir and Danho work to cultivate good relations with the Wamuba, and Apep ventures beyond the village and after a few days has managed to discover the presence of a hidden entrance, obscured by undergrowth, in a nearby hill, which accommodates a troop of oddly mannish-looking apes. Ardashir learns that the witch-queen tires of the consort; he has fulfilled his duty, and even now her belly swells as she carries his litter inside her sacred womb. Horror is soon replaced by rage, as the Kuthian arms himself and races to the queen’s palace with murderous intent. Before his companions can react, the entire tribe races to the royal bedchamber in defence of the queen. In a matter of moments, the dismembered corpse of Moshedayan is carried aloft, and M’wanza, emerging from the palace, regretfully informs the party that it is banished from the lands of the Wamuba. Zul scuttles away, flushed with new-found power… Ardashir pleas for clemency, and despite the circumstances, is able to convince the queen through M’wanza to both grant three more days grace and the return of the Kuthian’s corpse, so that he may condense it down to its essential saltes for utter destruction, a ritual he undertakes with surprising skill, as if he has performed it many, many times before…