The world began to change not with a great war, but with a quiet, creeping sickness. It started a year before the cries of a newborn boy filled the air. The Eldorians, with their pale skin and their vast and great knowledge, came to the land under the pretext of being visitors and bringing aid. But they were not healers but vultures in fine clothing, and they came to scavenge off the bones they could pick.
At that time, our king, Kaso, was already a man who led a wicked life. He was an aging, tired man who had forgotten the dignity of his ancestors. He subjected his people to endless labor to pay for his lavish needs, causing his relationship with the Shadow Lord, Talaka, to be left on bad terms. Jabari, with his clan, was too occupied guarding the walls of our land from the creatures that roamed the wild, and he had no time for a king's folly. Kasongo was on his last straw, knowing that at any time the people would rise up. This was not the first time a king had grown greedy, but in the past, the council of elders would always step in and remove him before he could do more harm. That was how we maintained order till today.
The Eldorians, sensing a moment of weakness, made their move and went to King Kaso with a deal. They offered whispered promises of easy wealth beyond his wildest dreams and a power no one could ever challenge, power to make him invincible, if only he would give them a seat at the table. The day they joined hands was the very same day the council of elders was to vote on his impeachment. But with the Eldorians' backing, Kaso suddenly began to make small, positive changes. The council, seeing this, halted the process, but it was a fatal mistake. The Eldorians, with their cunning, began to take over the council, one by one, until they had the power in their own hands.
At this time, a young Eldorian woman named Lyra arrived, sent to the land as a form of punishment. She was the daughter of a powerful Eldorian noble who had dared to oppose the notion of the invasion of the land of Jabali (where King Kaso reigns). To punish him and cement their so-called alliance with the natives, the Eldorians married her off to Talaka, the Shadow Lord.
Talaka, a man of radiant kindness beneath his fearsome reputation, saw her sorrow. On their first night, he looked at her and said, "I do not want a woman who is here against her will. Be free to leave, to return to your people." Lyra, seeing this compassion in a man she had been taught to fear, didn't just fall for him; she fell hard. She stayed, and their love, born from a political punishment, became a true and powerful thing. A love forged from adversity.
Their happiness was short-lived, a small, peaceful flame in a world on the brink of war. They had their first child, Damson Tala. But on the day of his birth, the Eldorians, with the king's fake blessing, began a full-scale exploitation of the natives. The king turned his back on his people completely, a betrayal so great that the heavens wept. They were not even hiding it at this point. Since they had 70% of the council of elders replaced with Eldorians. The remaining elders had no say on any matter and were brushed off when they tried to voice their thoughts.
But the people were not going to sit down and take it. The sound of a newborn cry was met with the sound of a roaring rebellion. The people, seeing that their king had betrayed them and their new masters were nothing but thieves, formed a fierce rebellion. They refused to stay quiet. They would not be slaves. They were the Mau Mau. They rose from the shadows, ready to fight for a land that was now bleeding from within.