"Witches? Hags? Performing dark rituals in the dead of night? They can't be up to any good..." Alphonse says, and starts stalking off toward the direction they point.
"Are these different witches from Mwikali?" Toshiro asks a bit more calmly.
Mwikali looks on and begins to contemplate on the possible rituals she knows.
As the Champions return, prepared for trouble and confident without being overtly aggressive, the voodoo dancers stop their ritual and stare in astonishment at the exotic looking strangers that have just arrived.
In Arabic: Who do we have here? asks the astonished-looking hag...
" I am Mwikali, Daughter of the Hag Eshwa, Witch of the Kanuri, Devotee to mother Africa. Me and my companions have come to seek things sacred to the God of Europa, lost for ages gone." She states being as honest as she can with a hag. She contained the hatred for such a creature as she reminded her of her mother.
"Tell me, Oh powerful Mother, who do I have the pleasure to speak with and what revelry do you practice this night?"
Bernardo keeps out of sight,
" I am Mwikali, Daughter of the Hag Eshwa, Witch of the Kanuri, Devotee to mother Africa. Me and my companions have come to seek things sacred to the God of Europa, lost for ages gone." She states being as honest as she can with a hag. She contained the hatred for such a creature as she reminded her of her mother.
"Tell me, Oh powerful Mother, who do I have the pleasure to speak with and what revelry do you practice this night?"
Fixing Mwikali with a malevolent leer, the hag answers: I be Big Mama Gangoola, chief spiritual advisor of these Kukuanas... Ye have found us reveling with our patron spirits, who shall not be named! What brings you here, Witch Mwikali? Do you wish to join our revelry? Or have you come to punish in the name of the Cross God?
Bernardo keeps out of sight,
" Mother Gangoola, I was sought after to observe. I know not your Patron. My companions, do not understand and find such beliefs archaic and satanic. I know both are slightly true, but that does not mean all here do so. I will ask, as you say you are The Kukuanas, do you know of an Ancient mine devoted to these outsiders faith?" She says curtsying to the Hag, acknowledging her dominance of the circle, but not a true subservient curtsy.
Grinning savagely, sharp teeth bared...
Ah! So ye seek old King Solomon's Mines, do ye? Just like so many others before... Folk of the north seem fascinated with the ancient mined... Great wealth they seek, but death is all they find...
The old crone drools as she eyes Alphonse...
Handsome young man... Very, very handsome, and manly... Perhaps we could work out a deal? Hahahahahahaaaaa!!!! Yes!! Big Mama likes pretty boys!!
The hag shuffles closer to the aasimar paladin, until he catches a whiff of her foulness...
A shiver runs up Fox's spine as the hag's obvious intent reminds him of his time in the Ghost Tower under Jorogumo's thrall.
He places a hand on Alphonse's shoulder, saying quietly, "I stand with you Alphonse, and will not agree to any such 'deals'."
" I see you seek to make a daughter do you?" She says as she stands tall eyes narrowing.
"These men will only engage you of there own free will.No deals no magical coercion. For now, they are content to let me speak to you, Honored Mother. If this goes wrong I doubt I will be able to hold back" She looks over at the others in then back to the circle.
"Now tell me honored mother do you have any information on the Mines? Or the area you are willing to part with?" She asks as she smiles.
Alphonse arrives to the scene a little later than everyone else, what with being weighed down by his armor. As a result, he has time to note that relatively friendly negotiations are being held.
"I am...flattered Mother Gangoola, but fear I must decline. I have taken no vow of celibacy but carnal relations outside of wedlock are forbidden by my faith."
Toshiro observes, somewhat confused. How does a creature as hideous as that create someone as normal looking as Mwikali?
The hideous old crone pouts melodramatically for a moment, still hungrily eyeing Alphonse, and then croons: Aye, Big Mama can tell ye about the old mines of King Solomon... can even guide ye to them, perhaps... But first... ye must come with us to Loo, city of the Kukuana, and feast with our king, the Great and Mighty Kang! Ye shall be our honored guests at the feast...
Mwikali
"I see nothing wrong with that but I must confer with my companions" She says as she turns to the others oblivious.
Ihrin comes into the light and discusses' with the others thinking that it couldn't hurt but it is a hag and they are treacherous
"Though the feast is a delay, we may save much more time by having a guide the rest of the way to the mines. Perhaps we should accept her offer."
Come, weary travelers, to Loo, where ye shall find food, drink, and rest!
Big Mama Gangoola leads the adventurers and voodoo dancers to the walled city of Loo, surrounded by a palisade of sharpened logs, 10 feet high.
Within this enclosure are some twenty thatched huts about 20 feet in diameter, with grass roofs.
When the adventurers come before great and mighty King Kang of Kukuanaland, seated upon a throne made from live people positioned to form a seat for their king.
Welcome to Kukuanaland, strangers! And welcome to our city of Loo! We seldom have visitors from elsewhere, so it is a rare novelty for us to host you in our great city of Loo!
Mwikali watches seeing this and her eyes narrow. However she doesn't move. She curtsys as she should then raises.
"I am Mwikali of the Kunai,I and my companions seek to find treasures lost to them years ago. The good mother Gangoola, invited us here for a feast. However, as I have been presented with the opportunity I shall ask you oh mighty King of Kukuanaland. Would you care to free Africa from the Muslim Invaders?" She asks with a wry smile honestly wondering what his response would be.
Mwikali watches seeing this and her eyes narrow. However she doesn't move. She curtsys as she should then raises.
"I am Mwikali of the Kunai,I and my companions seek to find treasures lost to them years ago. The good mother Gangoola, invited us here for a feast. However, as I have been presented with the opportunity I shall ask you oh mighty King of Kukuanaland. Would you care to free Africa from the Muslim Invaders?" She asks with a wry smile honestly wondering what his response would be.
Yes! We must keep our land free of these foreign slavetraders! A nuisance, these Musselmen!
"Tell me oh Gracious King of Kukuanaland, tell me who does the Kukuana worship" She asks as she smiles looking at the king."I see the gods here have favored you, I doubt our presence and mere endeavor would bore you and your people. So I hope that you will allow us to move about your land find what we seek and leave without any real disruption" She says hoping to finish this quickly and rest.
The great and mighty Moloch is our god! Hungry, vengeful, all-consuming Moloch! He demands the newborn of the New Moon!
The Kukuanas howl like wolves at the moon as King Kang speaks the name Moloch!
Big Mama leads the other Kukuanas in a chant: Iä Moloch! Iä Moloch! All mighty, ever consuming Lord of the Infernal Pit! Iä Moloch! Iä Moloch! Grant us your vile favor!
Let us feast to honor our visitors from afar! Bring forth the sacred toad milk! cries King Kang.
A servant (scantily clad black woman with diabolical body scarring and tattoos) runs off to retrieve the ordered psychedelic drink...
A demon-possessed voodoo dancer returns from a temple hut with two large clay jugs filled with the sacred "milk of the toad spirit", a hallucinogenic drink extracted from a certain toad native to Kukuanaland.
She pours some psychedelic toad milk into a clay mug and gives it to King Kang with a submissive bow...
After quaffing the white liquid, he nods to the strangers, and his servants offer mugs of toad milk to each of the travelers...
Mwikali looks at the milky stuff and sniffs it. She turns up her nose and waits to watch the others.
Ihrin takes a feigned sip.
The Fox eyes the strange drink, then declines it with a wave of his hand when the dancer offers it.
Surely no harm could come from milk. Alphonse thinks, and takes a swallow. If it tastes good, he drinks more.
Surely no harm could come from milk. Alphonse thinks, and takes a swallow. If it tastes good, he drinks more.
The toad milk is sweetened with honey and cane sugar, so it tastes pleasant enough for Alphonse to quaff some more. Soon, his lips and tongue begin to tingle and go pleasantly numb, and a wave of euphoria washes over him as his pupils begin to contract and dilate rapidly, causing his companions, the Kukuanas, and everything else around him to seem hyper animated, exquisitely detailed...
He can see the most diminutive of particles that make up the air around him, and realizes instinctively that those particles also make up him and everything else...
An impossibly complex geometric spiderweb of prismatic light seems to overlay everything he looks at after about thirty minutes from the time he first ingests the toad milk...
During this time, King Kang, Big Mama Gangoola, and the voodoo dancers resume their frenzied revels, gyrating obscenely, hooting, howling, and moaning in ecstasy as they hallucinate on the toad milk.
"By the Lord, what is this? This isn't milk!"
"By the Lord, what is this? This isn't milk!"
[dice=Will]1d20+14
Fighting against a dark presence of great and terrible power and evil for control of his mind, Alphonse Veritas the Oathkeeper calls upon all the resolute powers and axioms of his path and bond to preserve him...
Gradually, the dark presence subsides, becoming only a vaguely menacing shadow in the back of his mind...
Gawking lasciviously at Alphonse, the old crone gasps in eager wonder: What d'ye see, boy!? Do ye see the Moloch!?
The freaked out voodoo dancers chant the name three times: MO-LOCH!! MO-LOCH!! MO-LOCH!!
"interesting" She says looking at him.
"Great mother Gangoola, tell me more of these halls the children of European seek, and I shall make sure to secure an alliance with you to usher in a free Africa" She says earnestly trying to maybe distract them from the ceremony.
"interesting" She says looking at him.
"Great mother Gangoola, tell me more of these halls the children of European seek, and I shall make sure to secure an alliance with you to usher in a free Africa" She says earnestly trying to maybe distract them from the ceremony.
Frowning with unconcealed disappointment that Alphonse has so far resisted any diabolical communion with their devil-god Moloch, the hag turns to Mwikali and slyly replies: Patience, young daughter of the land... We shall get to that in good time... First, drink the milk of the sacred toad! Again, she tries to offer the Witch a cup of the psychedelic toad milk...
"Sure I guess" She says hesitantly as she takes a drink.