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When Sikubwe
was an infant his parents' business failed and, rather than become
indentured
servants to their debtors, they swore a vow to abandon their right to
own
property and become exiles. They travelled (together with Sikubwe's
grandparents and extended family) for a long distance, doing odd jobs.
When
Sikubwe was 7 years old, his family, an entourage of almost 15 people,
was
attacked in the Ngalgu Jungle by a group of tasloi led by a monstrous
figure
that appeared to have scythes or swords for arms. Sikubwe and his
mother
managed to escape by leaping a ravine into a fast-moving river and
clinging to
rocks, concealed by the ravine's edge, until morning.
After
emerging in the daylight to bury what scraps and mementos remained (the
attackers had taken the bodies), Sikubwe and his mother decided not to
go to
their original destination -- a route which took them deeper through
the jungle
-- but trekked for a month, their oxen and wagon having been lost,
towards the
nearest village. En route Sikubwe hunted, found edible plants, and
learned much
about the wilderness. At last they arrived in a small community in the
land
called the Undersky, just to the south of the Makharan desert. The
Undersky is
so called because the ground is flat, covered only with dry brush and
squat
stubby trees, and there is little shade or water or geographic
features. It is
inhabited by the sheep-raising Ontokeliteli people, who build great
forts and
cities of brambles magically treated to resist fire. (The people of
N'ker
consider the Ontokeliteli slightly uncivilized.) An Ontokeliteli
village,
Ungum, welcomed the mother and child and the outcasts were given a
permanent
home. Sikubwe's mother remarried an Ontokeliteli priest (n'anga),
Othiamba, a
half-elf.
Othiamba became a second father to the young Sikubwe, and as he had
no children of his own, he raised him as a n'anga. Sikubwe was
physically weak,
but a fast learner and very attentive, and he accompanied his
stepfather on
short journeys to consult priestly works painted on ancient rocks
buried
underground. They were sometimes attacked on the way by wild animals
(who the
n'anga chastised and sent away), hostile desert men, or cannibal
demi-humanoids
such as the bird-headed Herrabs who live in burrows.
It was
expected that Sikubwe, like his stepfather, would become a n'anga
channeling
the spirit of the ancestor Kaikara, a great psion. (The inhabitants of
the
Undersky, like those of the Steppes of Makhara, were more partial to
psions
than wizards, as a great wave of refugees had emigrated from Auralia to
Makhara
after the destruction of their country.) But the fierce spirit of
Kaikara did
not channel easily into Sikubwe. Brooding over this, the teenage
Sikubwe would
often go out and sit in the branches of the dead baobab, one of the few
large
trees which grew in a gully a mile from Ungum. It was there that, after
a great
while, he realized that he could hear the spirits of plants and trees
better
than those of animals or men. Listening to the spirits which still
inhabited
the dead baobab, he heard something he had never expected to hear --
that the
tree knew of Sikubwe's dead father and brothers. The tree could not
recall
whether it had met them in the land of the dead or heard of them from
another
n'anga, nor could it recall whether it had known them in past or
future, for
plants have an unusual sense of time. So Sikubwe said thanks and
farewell to
his stepfather and went south to the jungle, in search of the other
plant
n'anga whom the tree had met years ago. As a parting gift, his
stepfather gave
him a magic periapt which had been blessed by several generations of
n'anga.
Sikubwe
spent a year going throughout the world, including parts of Cyrm and
Auralia.
He found that he enjoyed travelling, although when possible he
accompanied
groups instead of going alone, for he was never a good fighter, and he
enjoyed
the companionship. He met plant and animal n'anga, shared drinks of
water
brought up from ritual wells, and collected a bag of the seeds of
Adrimola, which
sprout instantly into enormously tall trees. Eventually, in the
Makharan
Jungle, he met a 150-year-old n'anga who had spent years meditating in
the form
of a small bush. The n'anga, who called herself the Voice of the
Leaves, told
him that she had known the dead baobab tree when it was alive, and that
it was
she who had told the tree about his family. The n'anga, who lived in
the
jungle, had come across the skeletons of Sikubwe's family shortly after
they
died, spoken to their bones, and reincarnated them in the form of
gazelles.
Sikubwe found the gazelles who had been his father and brothers, and
talked to
them, awakening their lingering memories of their previous life. Having
gotten
the blessing of his original family, he returned to Ungum and, with the
baobab's permission, carved a mask from its branches. The mask
contained the
spirits of the tree itself as well as the n'anga, who had allowed
herself to
die shortly after the meeting.
For a while,
Sikubwe returned to Ungum and lived there as a shaman with his mother
and
stepfather, turning the parched grasslands green. During that time, he
met Son
Hideyoshi, and became an ally of the adventuring party. They traveled
to
Pandemonium to rescue one of Hideyoshi's allies, and fought demons and
explored
a deadly iron fortress. Later, they returned to earth where they had to
deal
with an invasion of dragons from an evil empire ruled by wizards.
(Then the DM
had to leave town and the campaign ended, but it was FUN...!) -_-
What
are your favorite RPGs? My favorite games are Dungeons & Dragons
(all editions), Exalted,
Shadowrun, Call of Cthulhu, Kult, GURPS (science fiction),
The
Dying Earth,
Deadlands, Over the Edge, Godlike, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay,
and the World of
Darkness games.
What
was your first RPG session like? My first RPG session was
run by my babysitter when I was six
years old. It was a D&D
2e game, although I didn't realize it at the time.
We played it at my parents' house.
What
was your WORST RPG session like? My worst RPG
session was one where my players looked at my
adventure notes when I was out of the room. They were uninterested and
disruptive before then but after that, there was really just no point
in continuing.
Who
is your all-time favorite person to game with? My
babysitter was really good. -_- Seriously, probably a tie
between my friends Vartan and Hawwa. Vartan is a great tactician and
always
plays a good fight, and Hawwa is more of the thoughtful type. (Hi guys
if you
read this -_- )
Do
you have anything gaming-related to plug? I would like to
ask everyone to check out my blog, ultimatedm.com I'm
trying to write about all sorts of features of gaming culture, as well
as
reviews of old and new gaming supplements, and hopefully some new
material from
my Neo-Pegana Bronze Age Mystical campaign setting for D&D4e!
Please come by!
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