Free The Ancient Lands: Warrior Quest, Search for the Ifa Scepter by Jason McCammon Page A

dressed in wears that seemed as though he
had worn them for a hundred years. He was the Griot.
    A sash made of decayed rat femurs draped
across his tall, withered frame, and Bomani was flabbergasted. It
took him a moment but after he collected his courage, he walked
right up to the Griot and asked, “Are you the Griot ?” The
Griot glared down at Bomani and nodded as he gave an affirmative
moan.
    “Hi Mr. Griot.” Farra greeted him
hesitantly. “Can you tell us of the history of the Ifa
Scepter?”
    The Griot’s eyes closed. He began to murmur
in a deep, low voice in a foreign tongue that they could not
understand.
    A Griot cannot simply deliver a piece of
history; he must go through it from the beginning until he arrives
at the moment one is looking for. He began at the beginning when
the God Olorun lowered a gold chain from the sky. And how Obatala
climbed down this chain and proceeded to create the dry land. He
traveled through the creation of man and man’s history, as he knew
it, until he arrived finally at the Ifa Scepter, then spoke in a
manner in which they could understand.
    “Ah,” said the Griot, “Here we are, the Ifa
Scepter.” He placed his staff into the cauldron; an image appeared
as he spoke:
    Well after the beginnings of creation, yet
well before all that you know came to be, the god of harvest
En-Kai, who rules over rain, vegetation, and blessings, took
pleasure in providing man with what he needed. The plentiful land
always produced enough to keep their bellies full and the people
strong. The people were grateful and gave praise to En-Kai, and all
of the gods that touched their world. Generations passed, the
people began to forget, they took the gods for granted and they
stopped giving thanks. The people had completely forgotten that it
is was En-Kai that made their land so fertile. The angry god
decided he would forsake man. He then took his nourishing hands off
of Madunia, and the land became infertile. The people soon begged
and pleaded to the gods, but the gods would say, "Why should we
provide for you when you are so quick to forget us?" So a pact was
made, and together the gods and man forged the Ifa Scepter. And
from then on, man was required to actively use the scepter to
communicate with the god of harvest. Man later learned that the
scepter carried other attributes as well. He later learned that
through the scepter, man could gain power. It is for this power
that men of greed have sought after it, for many would selfishly
use it to gain power for themselves.”
    In the image of his cauldron the Ifa Scepter
sat in a diamond cave in a large, dark clearing, lit by the
shimmers of thousands and thousands of small diamonds and other
colored jewels embedded in the cavern walls. Beautifully, they
reflected the light of the Ifa Scepter���
     
     
     

X CRYSTALS, STAFFS,
    AND POWER

     
     
    —At this point, Dear Reader, I find it
necessary to give you a brief schooling on man, magic, power, and
staffs and how they all connect.
     
    Man-
    Man’s continual quest for knowledge and
power has always proved to be a temptation, hard to overcome. When
man first discovered crystals and gems, it was only their beauty
that enticed him, using them for decoration and trade. Soon, with
the rise of magic, man discovered that these same crystals and gems
could amplify their power, and they soon became the tool of
sorcery.
    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 Cult. Sorcery was a gift from the gods, usually
subject to their rules and approval. Though, man’s thirst for power
led them to obtain sorcery by unnatural means, without the gods’
approval. Thus, were 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