Soyinka, daughter of Matanboukous, leader of the Azkeels
The Legend of Soyinka[]
Thousands of years before the birth of Kushulainn, Hamestaga'n was already the city of the dead. The wizards of all Phaenon would come here regularly to draw strength to practice the Art, and to communicate with the dead about human affairs. The necropolis was nothing but a field of tombs dotted with immense and magnificent palaces dedicated to Vyagrimukha, the God of the Art. Each wizard would come to Hamestaga'n on the day of his death to be buried in one of the secret caves designed specifically to house the remains of the Masters of the Art. Thus it continued for centuries until Astaroth, at the head of his Infernal Legions, declared the Cobalt War on all humans. In order to justify his claims to rule Phaenon, he argued that the planet once had belonged to him and had been unjustly taken from his control.
This war was terrible, unlike those that any other world had ever known. It lasted 19 centuries and more than three-fourths of Phaenon's human population lost their lives in it.
Some months before the final battle with Kushulainn, Astaroth managed to take control of Hamestaga'n. By capturing the site he was attempting two things: to win the dead souls over to his cause and to kill the wizards before they could unite to aid Kushulainn.
He failed in two attempts. The dead refused to ally with him and the wizards had succeeded in fleeing in spite of a siege that had gone on for several months.
Astaroth, mad with rage upon seeing the necropolis empty, destroyed everything in his path: the gravestones, the caves: practically nothing withstood his attack against the City of the Dead. While he sought out the sarcophagi of the wizards from the Ancient Time, in order to seize the tokens of their power, he did not succeed.
Far from the devastated Hamestaga'n, all the wizards of Phaenon were sealing their souls within the sword Barkaya'l in order to give it the magic powers necessary to kill Astaroth. Only one wizard did not join the cause because his daughter, only a few months old, would die if he left her alone. This wizard's name was Matanboukous. With a heavy heart, he withdrew to a secret hiding place with the baby and waited for the infernal wave to pass.
He knew the other wizards would think him a coward for hiding instead of fighting Astaroth. He also knew that if Kushulainn did not kill the Evil One, he would never again be able to face them to explain that he wasn't a coward. Yet in fact, this is precisely what happened.
When he felt that the dark forces were gone, Matanboukous came out of his hiding place with Soyinka, his daughter. He was the last wizard of Phaenon left. Kushulainn had disappeared, Hamestaga'n was destroyed and worse than all, he was a traitor in the eyes of his people. He would have opted for death but one look from his daughter held him to life. He found a place for himself far from man and raised Soyinka as best he could.
He dedicated the final years of his life to writing the Book of Nout, or Night, in the Masa'u dialect. Into this book he put down everything he knew about the Art in order for it to survive to help mankind.
At the death of her father, Soyinka knew everything about the Art. Alone in the world, she wandered for several millennia. Confused, she could feel deep within her heart that the battle between Kushulainn had not been finished. She also knew that the sword Barkaya'l, with the spirits of the wizards within, still existed somewhere. She had never lost the hope of being able to reaffirm her father's honor.
When Omikron was covered over with a dome and got its computer-as-leader, Soyinka was no longer able to accept life among the humans. She also needed to protect herself from Astaroth who wanted to seize the soul of the final wizard of Phaenon by any means he could. She took refuge in the catacombs and moved into the remains of Hamestaga'n. There she discovered the Azkeels, and became their queen.
She reigned as absolute leader over the catacombs with both fear and hope in her heart. Fear that Astaroth would steal her soul, and hope that one day she could explain to the wizards imprisoned in Barkaya'l that her father was not a coward.[1]
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