THE LEGEND OF KIWAKAAZI

“My good friend, Nene Odoi, tell me what happened?” asked Quaazi Selasi. Nene Odoi answered, “Something is wrong, your majesty. Something is terribly wrong.”

The world was fine. It was great as a matter of fact until Nananompofie (Home of the ancient ones and Central Empire) changed overnight after a great storm. After a few years, the name Nananompofie was forgotten. And the empire that used to be a symbol of light became a symbol of darkness. It was named Nomposuro (meaning dark and evil forest).

It was still early in the morning. It was somewhere between the hours of eight and nine when Nene Odoi, his second in command, Nokofio, and about two hundred of his brave soldiers arrived at the border that separated Nananompofie (Central Empire) from Nsatia, the village closest to Nananompofie. Quaazi Selasi, ruler of Nibooman, during the time had sent message instructing the chief of Nsatia to move close to the border separating Nibooman from Nananompofie and await further orders. Nibooman was waging war on Nananompofie after an incident that led to the death of Quaazi Selasi’s only son.

Nene Odoi and Nokofio rode on horseback whilst the remaining two hundred marched on foot. Scientific development in the west led to the manufacture of guns of all types and sizes. Their armies have moved away from the use of spears, swords, bow and arrows. They were all dressed like modern day soldiers; wearing earth-like sleeveless shirts that exposed their large arms. They wore similar trousers with dirty green patches distributed in it. They tied their heads with black threads and wore spectacles with tainted glasses. For footwear, they wore black sandals with ropes that fasten the sandals around their ankles and feet.

On their way, one soldier asked his friend who matched next to him, “Has this wall always been there?” His friend shrugged. He was not sure if it had. Nene Odoi also asked Nokofio, “When did this happen?” Nokofio replied, “I have no idea, your highness.”

Nene Odoi shouted, “Stop…!” His soldiers suddenly stopped. They were about a hundred meters in front of a white evenly spaced convex and oval rock-like wall around Nananompofie. He turned his horse to face his soldiers. He rode from their left to right and on his way back to the left, stopped in the middle. He shouted, “Brave Nsatia!” His soldiers responded, “For the love of our village!” He shouted again, “Brave Nsatia!” “For the love of our empire!” was the response this time. And for a third time he shouted, “Brave Nsatia!” His soldiers shouted, “We are always prepared to die!” He dismounted his horse and said, “Which five of you are…?” Before he could finish the question, five men had already stepped forward. Nene Odoi pointed to Nananompofie and said, “Show me just how brave you are!”

His five men carrying their guns initially in their arms like babies each hanged their gun behind them and started a race. Two immediately took the lead and three tried to catch up with them. They were approaching it – approaching the mysterious barrier. Suddenly, the man in third place spread out his arms to stop two who were running behind him. They were all very close to the space between the oval, convex, rock-like wall around Nananompofie. The two who led the race had been burnt into crisps after entering the dark space between the pointy, convex and oval shaped rocks. An excruciating experience that drew screams from the front runners.

Nene Odoi strained his eyes and asked Nokofio, “What just happened?” Nokofio shook his head and replied, “The most mysterious thing I have ever witnessed, My Lord.” Nokofio added, “I suggest we retreat and report this to the Quaazi at once.” So the brave men of Nsatia returned to their homes while Nene Odoi and Nokofio alone journeyed to report what they have seen to Quaazi Selasi.

About an hour later, some people of Kushmir the village closest to Nanompofie from the North stood gazing at and wondering about the strangest thing. The men stood arms folded wondering if it is safe to approach that wall and the women feared their stupid men may approach the mysterious wall and die.  One woman asked her neighbor, “What is that (referring to this same white wall around Nananompofie)?” Her neighbor answered, “A curse upon the world, I think.”

At the same time, the people of Julapman, a village in the east had gathered and were also gazing at the wall. One boy asked his mother, “Can we go and play there (pointing at the wall). His mother sternly shouted, “No, my son! Never go near it. It is an evil place. If you go there, you will never see me, your father and your siblings ever again.” The boy looked terrified. The mother asked, “Do you want that?” The boy shook his head. “Good boy!” remarked the mother, while she held her son close to her body.

“I feel I will die of curiosity if I do not go near it,” said a man from the village of Ndaso in the south. The men and women who had gathered there with him shouted, “No!” But this man was really curious and stubborn. He ran towards it. One woman shouted, “Please don’t! Come back!” A man shouted, “Don’t be foolish Mphatule.” But Mphatule was beyond foolish. He ran towards the space between the pointy, white, convex, oval, rock-like wall. He screamed out loudly when he arrived in between two of the rocks and was reduced to ashes. The people of Ndaso looked surprised. They stared for a couple more minutes and turned back to their village heading straight for the chief’s palace.

So, this is what happened. The chiefs found out what happened, passed on the information to their kings, and the kings forwarded the information to the emperors. The emperors quickly identified their best to investigate the situation. A wise man was sent from the north. An intelligent scientist carried his scientific gadget from the west to investigate the barrier around Nananompofie (Central Empire). The most powerful herbalist will examine the wall from the south and in the east, the most powerful priest approached the mysterious wall.

Let us begin with the west. The western scientist carried a gadget that looked like a radio with an antenna and a tuning knob. He came close to the space between the rocks, set his gadget such that it read zero and held it close to the space. The arm that indicates the value that had been measured moved. It moved from zero and went beyond the highest mark, one hundred, and suddenly the device started malfunction. Sparks flew from it. The scientist let go of the device and the arm read zero again. Obviously the device was dead. He went back to get a gadget that can measure higher values – picture a bigger radio. He even had to carry it at the back of his truck and struggled pushing it towards the space between two of the rocks. This one could measure in the region of one million. The same thing happened to the second gadget. That was the highest Western technology could measure at the time. So the poor scientist returned looking very terrified to Nyansapofie (capital of Nibooman) to report to the Quaazi.

The priest from the east examined the soil close to the rocks. He collected soil in his left hand and rubbed his thumb through it. Then he tasted the soil and spat it out. It tasted bitter. Holding the soil in his palm, he whispered some words on them. Let me try remembering them. He said, “Agbele kpe ji. Nto ma kuvo.” I have no idea what that means but the reaction was not good. The soil, which initially looked like ordinary sand, turned black – pitch black and a very scary face appeared in it. He moved his head backwards in fear. The soil after showing that changed and appeared normal again. He too returned to the Maharaazi (Emperor) of the east to report what he had seen.

The wisest of all men approached from the north. He did not get too close to the mysterious wall. He looked up at the sky within the wall. It was slightly darker than the sky outside the wall. He pulled his long hairs on his chin and remarked, “Interesting.” He sat down and meditated while he waited for night to come. When night came he noticed that the stars did not shine in the sky within the wall and it was still very dark. He shook his head, got up and headed back to the Muaazi’s (Emperor’s) palace to deliver his report.

The herbalist examined the white walls themselves. He held in his hand a calabash filled with a brownish green liquid. He stirred and stirred and after a long time of stirring, he splashed the liquid on one of the walls. It slowly changed from top to bottom into red with white inscriptions in it. The inscriptions were “jakpasu menyo dome kaka wuvo.” After about 15 seconds, the inscriptions disappeared and the wall changed back to white. He gathered himself and returned to report to the Jaazi elect. (Note that Arangosango was ruler of the Southern Empire when Nanompofie changed. His people believed he was trapped inside the forest and elected someone to occupy his throne in his absence).

Quaazi Selasi asked, “Tell me. What is your conclusion?” The scientist answered, “I am not sure your highness and that scares me.” Maharaazi Vayome also asked his priest, “What did you find out?” His priest answered, “It is bad your highness. It is very bad.” Muaazi Jamel asked, “Wise one, what news do you bring us the foolish ones?” The wise man responded, “Not good news my brave Lord.” Jaazi elect Sasu Basabasa IV asked his herbalist, “What did the herbs reveal?” The herbalist answered, “They revealed something bloody, Great Son of our land.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Jaazi elect Sasu Basabasa IV. “It means a very powerful herbalist used a strong blood ritual to barricade the entire Nananompofie. It is a ritual that has never been used because it is impossible to execute. This kind of ritual only suggests that the herbalist wanted to keep something inside from getting out or something outside from entering,” answered the herbalist.

Muaazi Jamel said, “Pray tell, oh wise one.” The wise one sighed before replying, “The sun, the moon and even the stars avoid that land and the sky is darker. I believe the forest is being inhabited by a deadly and powerful spirit. A wise man, one whose wisdom surpasses mine, used a heavenly spell to draw the celestial bodies from which energy can be drawn away from Nananompofie. And used an earth spell to create the white walls and harnessed the energy of the sky, sun, moon and stars to fill the spaces between the walls. Nothing can get in or out.”

“To the ordinary man, the soil around the barrier looks like sand but it is not. It is soil from a spiritual realm. It is not just any spiritual realm but from the home of a very powerful and dangerous god. The blackening of the soil in my palm after I commanded it to reveal its true nature and the face that was drawn in it is proof of what I say. In conclusion, I will say that a spiritual realm has been forced into our physical world. I cannot even begin to imagine the kind of power it required. Two worlds existing so close to each other…. Very soon, one world will have to take over the other and I don’t think we will have the power to match whatever is on the other side.” This was the answer the priest gave to Maharaazi Vayome when he demanded an explanation.

“Science has always been interested in quantifying materials and energy. The current electromagnetic gauge discovered by Obenfo Solonsi can measure up to one million Solonzis (So. Unit of measurement). This is because no one has ever created a field that strong. The highest so far was created by Obenfo Bisa, up to just about five hundred but it was unstable and almost wiped out an entire village. That is why I am terrified, Supreme Quaazi. Nananompofie is surrounded by an electromagnetic field greater than one million Solonzis,” explained the scientist from the West.

Quaazi Selasi sat there thinking. He got up and asked for his messenger. He said, “Send this message to the Muaazi, Maharaazi and Jaazi. Tell them I am invoking the Nsabroatsi (The summoning of the Great ones).”

Jaazi Sasu Basabasa IV told one of his guards, “I am sure Selasi will invoke the Nsabroatsi. Ready my horses and assemble my bodyguards. We leave for Nibooman when it arrives.”

Maharaazi Vayome looked out a window and said, “The world is about to change again and the west as usual will want to lead this change. Make preparations, once the message arrives, we will leave for Nibooman.”

And finally Muaazi Jamel told one of his female servants, “Prepare my bath. Proud Selasi will come knocking on my door soon with disturbing news of invoking the Nsabroatsi.”