Ah, the plains of East Africa...in the late 1820s. These lands are under the protection of a great Omani sultan, Seyyid Said.

Across these plains, herds of buffalo, black wildebeest, and zebras roam. Under some of the trees, sable antelope shake off tsetse flies. Crying shame; tsetse flies love black and blue.

Crashes of black rhinos bask under the few trees out here. Their dominant female keeps her calf close.

Across much land, a black leopard drags his kill. He finds a tree, and climbs it...taking his kill with him. Up there, he feasts. NO one will steal his meal up here...unless they want to become part of it.

These lands are home to many Bantu, Nilotic, and Cushitic tribes. The strongest of which are the Hutu, the Kikuyu, the Baganda, the Dinka, and the Luo. Alas, their influence is dwarfed by the Omani Arabs, who rule over them with the Five Pillars and the green flag of Islam.

Worldwide, slavery is a scourge. Arabs have less cause to enslave Africans than most nations. Does that stop them? Not Sultan Seyyid, it doesn't. But at least here, most of the slaves who work for the Omani nobles are relatively voluntary in their labor, in contrast to the rest of the world. Alas, that might as well be the only thing the Omanis do better, when it comes to slavery.

Once, a she-slave worked in a field of spices, near the Kenyan coast. Her name was Carolyn. Many hours, she put into these Omani plantations. Many Omani noblemen, she gave handjobs...most of them against her better judgment. Alas, to say that she hated all of them would be saying too much...

But then, when the Pope family in Samoa heard of her, they paid men to go over there, grab her, and sell her to them. Now, these slaves work in the absence of their small, adorable, scandal-fixing coworker. Many of them owe their relationships with the Omani sultanate to her. A few Omani noblemen, even, owe her for their better relationships with their subjects.

Carolyn was somebody's daughter. And rumor has it, she still draws breath out here...

Much farther north, up in Europe, the Napoleonic Wars have been won...by the Seventh Coalition. Prussia was on that coalition...as was Austria, Russia, the UK, and several other weaker states that the four of them protected from Napoleonic France and Naples. After an epic battle at Waterloo, they finally put an end to the treacherous Napoleon Bonaparte's expansion. For Prussia and Austria, this has come with a cost: the destruction of the Holy Roman Empire, the First Reich.

One day, Prussia will become the great founder and reuniter of the German states; from Bavaria to Saxony, and from Hanover to Württemberg... Alas, as the calendar goes, Germany's still got four decades to wait for that.

Down from the north, a great Teutonic Knight rides, aback a palomino horse. The horse is barded, and the tan saddle blanket, which is very long, bears the black cross of the Teutonic Order.

As the knight rides by, elands lift their heads, and watch. Lechwes stop in their tracks, and watch. Hyraxes perch atop rocks, and watch. Dik-diks keep low, in the grass, and watch. Kudus get down off their rearing, while eating acacia leaves too high up, and watch. Giraffes stop grazing the tops of these trees themselves, and watch.

Everywhere, lionesses hunt. While many nations are free to dispute this, this pride of lions would be wise to make this Teutonic knight their priority quarry...

Among other things, the knight has brought a lever-action rifle and a harquebus. Both are strong enough to take out an elephant. Lucky for the elephants, though, Sir Joachim is not here for them. He's here for more...inspirational big game.

He's also here on a reconnaissance mission. The Prussian royal family has interest in colonizing this land, if the Omanis ever get tired of living here. If they do, it just might aid Germany better towards reunification than if all Germans sit around on their asses, and do nothing for as long as it takes Europe to recover from Napoleon's many scars. If Sir Joachim does this job right, Prussia may yet have a colony in Africa to speak of, before the end of this decade...

Hiding in the tall grass, there are elephant shrews...gluttonizing whatever scarabs they can find, and wiggling their little elephant trunk-shaped noses. They're fast, and they're furious. When they hear the knight coming, they scurry.

Out here, in a wooded savanna, Sir Joachim camps. He pitches a tent...which would be a barracks for a platoon of Prussian warriors, if he had such a platoon at his back. Alas, Sir Joachim prefers to work solo. He once had an ancestor who did this, during the Third Crusade.

It just so happens that Sir Joachim's Third Crusade ancestor and Thomas Grant's ancestor are the same man. He fought bravely, under Richard Lionheart's command, against many Semitic peoples...as well as a few white peoples who, for some foolish reason, thought the Semites were worth their claim to the Holy Grail...whatever the hell THAT was about...

One bullet at a time, Sir Joachim loads his lever-action rifle. It's a fifty-cal, and its wooden buttstock is designed with a wolfsangel.

Thankfully, Sir Joachim won't be using any wolfsangels on this hunt. For some reason, neither the black-backed jackal, the painted wolf, nor the spotted hyena have inspired him much... The cheetah has...alas, the cheetah might actually have too much respect for the cheetahs to hunt them; especially the females. Rumor has it that she-cheetahs raise their cubs in a way that'd make a lot of Prussian husbands wish their wives were cheetahs.

The sun gets lower in the sky. Acknowledging this, Sir Joachim sets out.

As the sky darkens, many buffalos, black rhinos, lionesses, and black leopards fall to the wrath of this Teutonic knight's boom-boom stick. Before sunset, they're all hanging from a rope that's strung out, like a clothesline, between the tops of two trees. As they hang up there, the local hyenas would have to think that they're ants, if they think they can make off with this knight's trophies in the night.

The leopards might... But then, Sir Joachim doubts that the local leopards would try to avenge their fallen kin so soon after they've been felled. First of all, it'd feel too good to be true. Second of all, leopards are solitary; they don't avenge each other.

And so, the brave knight retires...to a cot. He sheds his armor and mail...revealing the full figure of Joachim von Goldenberger. When he's not on a special mission on King Frederick Wilhelm's orders, he's an Oberst in the Prussian Army.

Soon, every lantern is doused. He lies on his back, on the cot. Outside, the sounds of the savanna night spook all. And it never gets cooler out here. Sir Joachim shouldn't expect it to. This place is way too close to the Equator.

Outside, a spookier wind blows. From the trees, Sir Joachim's trophies sway.

For some reason, Sir Joachim starts to shiver. He's tempted to re-light a lantern...

Moments later, his need is robbed of him. Before him, a portal of Lightforce magic opens. Sir Joachim shields his weakened eyes, as he rises, and peers into the bright-shining void, before him...

A black woman, clad in a white robe, levitates through the portal. Behind her, its light dims. She spreads her arms, and smiles. She wears a golden laurel wreath around her head.

"I've broken into many buildings in my time," Sir Joachim admits. "But I've NEVER done it that well."

She smiles...slightly, and flaps her straight black hair. "I am Maya Sarabi. Once, I was a great chieftain of Niloticfolk. Once, I lost my daughter because of some of my rash decisions. Once again, I was ousted."

He scoffs. "African tribes that elect female koenigs?! They really ARE primitive, out here..."

"I've seen your heart, Sir Dear Knight. You long to be a Kaiser yourself." She flaps her hair again. "I can make you one. With me behind you, you can establish Prussian East Africa...and become its first viceroy."

Sir Joachim really doesn't want to tell her how good that sounds. Even so, there's a chance she's not pulling his leg, so he goes with it. "I'm in. Now, how do we accomplish this?"

"I may be an ousted queen, myself..." She flaps her hair again. "But I can still be one witchy bitch, if I have to be. And when I DON'T have to be."