Long ago, the Spirit Aziza Jual was summoned to the surface of the star Ntinyeti, that gave birth to the Tinyeleti Warriors. Ntinyeti has a twin, Ntinyari.
Ntinyeti and Ntinyari spin in perfect opposition to one another since their birth from the space of Jo’s Disc, and even though they were identical, the children of each star are the exact opposite. The Tinyeleti Warriors are known as noble defenders of what is right and in accordance with the will of their Vodun Jo. The children of the star Ntinyari, known as the Tinyalari, are star eaters who eventually consumed their parents, leaving Ntinyari as a black hole that continues to spin in perfect opposition to Ntinyeti to this day.
When Jual arrived to Ntinyeti, she was greeted by the chosen ruler of the star surface, the large flower known as King Protea, with his crown of pink petals. King Protea was rooted in what is usually the north pole of Ntinyeti and Jual bowed before him. The ground was like thick glass, and there were structures on the star surface, though no homes, just walls to mark the official court of King Protea, and other groves or fields of star flowers. The court of King Protea was filled with beautiful and exotic flowers and Jual would have been happy to wander inside the walls and appreciate all the colors and petal shapes.
“Please stand,” King Protea said in his way. “You are the daughter of Mam, there is no cause for you to prostrate. And there is little time for formality. Many of the Tinyeleti are away, and the Tinyalari are trying to obtain the Spirit Amulet that is under the protection of Moon Daisy at the south pole. You are the Spirit Aziza. I ask that you defend the amulet from the dark intentions of the Tinyalari who will only use it for death and corruption.”
“I will gladly defend the Spirit Amulet,” Jual said and after learning more about the group of Tinyalari group causing trouble on Ntinyeti, she headed to the south pole with a contingent of Tinyeleti still on the star. She arrived at the location of Moon Daisy, who was large like King Protea, but not as large as him.
“You will never take possession of the amulet! I will kill you all before you even know what happened.”
When Moon Daisy said this in her way, Jual noticed a group of bodies on the glass surface of the star at the base of her stem.
“We were sent by King Protea to help protect you, but it seems you are very capable of protecting yourself.”
“You are the Spirit Aziza!” Moon Daisy said in her way with excitement that surprised Jual. “Come quickly, you are too legendary to be careless. These corpses must be cleared immediately. If a single Spirit Tinyalari arrives, they will be able to…”
And just as she was explaining, it happened. The body of a being about the size of Jual flew at the speed of light around the base of Moon Daisy before Jual grabbed the figure by the neck in her hands, gripping it firmly. But the Tinyalari laughed as its body faded to dust that sprinkled over the corpses that began to animate, and slowly stand, snapping broken bones back into place. All of the bodies of the Tinyalari were unlike the spry bodies of a regular Tinyalari that are humanoid and generally taller than a Tinyeleti. The dead Tinyalari rose wearing robes that they had not been wearing before and the aspect of the magic that issued from them was dark violet. There were eight total and they encircled Moon Daisy who rained down her toxin on them, unaware that the attackers were already dead and only drawing strength from the toxin. One of them stood facing Jual with a hood covering her eyes and a sinister smile on her face.
Jual flew at the leader and they engaged in battle that raged so fast it was not visible to the naked eye. When they were done, all of the Tinyeleti who had traveled to assist Jual were dead and Jual clawed at the fist closed around her neck.
“Rejoice, for you were present at the birth of the Death Witch Coven, and you will meet your death at the hands of Quietus.”
Jual calmed her anger, and her body became incorporeal. She floated before Quietus who scowled her.
“You are not enough to stop us, Spirit Aziza. Nothing of this disc, including Moon Daisy, can stop us now.”
Jual looked up at the members of the Death Witch who were using the five digits of each of their hands to conjure arcana that was strange to Jual. There were clouds of white magic, green magic, black magic, and dark violet magic. And Jual just watched, unable to do anything while incorporeal but watch. Jual watched them summon the Spirit Amulet, ripping it into reality from the arcane nesting place where Moon Daisy had tucked the amulet away, and Mood Daisy suffering to keep control of it while her body began to dessicate. Jual reconstituted and engaged the beings that had been Tinyalari, but she knew by then that they were different; in her spirit form, Jual can see the animating essence of other things and she saw that the beings she faced were something very different. She managed to distract them enough that they ceased their assault on Moon Daisy after seizing the Spirit Amulet, and she lured them away from Ntinyeti before losing them completely in the infinities of Jo’s Disc.
When she found Obea on the Cotton-Wood that Nyame called home, Jual was grave about the new Fonlanders who had been born from the corpses of Tinyalari.
“They are witches made of Death Magic,” Jual said. She stood with Obea near Nyame who was rocking peacefully and not paying them any attention. “And they have the Spirit Amulet. They almost killed Moon Daisy.”
“We should spread word of what you saw,” Obea said. “We will keep a look out for these witches and learn what they are up to. The Fonlands will reject them if they are abomination.”
The Death Witches proved to be a true menace to the keepers of the peace on Jo’s Disc, and to a lesser extent, the Fonlands as a whole, but even to this day they have not been rejected. With the Spirit Amulet, the Death Witches were able to take control of Stars and corrupt them. Jual learned that they hoped to take complete control of Jo’s Disc to prove that their magic was the true reflection of her might, and better than the Luminaries that she favored. Jo chose to spectate from the surface of Damballa, secretly hoping that her Luminaries would prevail, but ready to embrace the Death Witches if they were able to assert their dominance.
When Nyame told Obea about Anansi’s aspirations to be the holder of the stories contained in Nyame’s Scroll, she realized that she could recruit beings of the Fonlands to aid in the battle against the Death Witches. Anansi wasn’t the greatest warrior of the Fonlands, but he was likely the most clever and of any Fonlander and he could use his wits to round up four of the most powerful warriors she had encountered in the Fonlands.
Anansi bowed before his mother in her rocking chair on the branch of her Cotton-Wood home and Obea stood at her right shoulder.
“I will accept this seemingly impossible task to prove to you, mother, that I am a proper steward of stories, the ultimate griot. And I will deliver them to Obea for approval. I will see you both soon.”
With that, Anansi was off on his quest to recover Pultine of the Mmoatia of Agê’s Disc, a Leopard from Lêgba’s Disc, a Hornet from one of the nests of Sakpata’s Disc, and a Python from Gu’s Disc.
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