Chameleons & Water

It wasn't long before Ekwensu found himself at his next destination point. A large, uninviting tropical forest in the Oguta region of southeast Nigeria.

This was the spirit forest, a place where even modern man strangely felt averse to entering. There was barely any light penetrating past the oil palm fronds that reached high into the sky. What little of Anyanwu's light that hit the ground was fought over by tiny trees and strangler figs, wrapping their way around their prey in a suffocating embrace.

The forest itself though, was alive with music and song, on the rare occasions where mankind was allowed entry in times past, the inhabitants of the forest would treat the humans to a grand musical show and dance. In fact, this was the very forest that the early Igbos were taught the art of dance by Nka mmuo, the maiden spirit of art.

There were some signs of civilization on the forest's edge. Glistening theme parks and hotels capitalizing on the history of the forest where once a year or for marriages, the employees would perform the traditional Owu dance, a dance so frenetic, that locals would ask if the dancer was possessed.

What only a few knew was that Nka Mmuo herself would join in the festivities, as she loved to join in and see her style be used in marriage ceremonies. But while Nka Mmuo was indeed in the forest, that was not the spirit Ekwensu was looking for.

He strode confidently towards the forest's edge, intent on finding his specific target. That would not be easy, the individual spirit he was looking for in this forest had a habit of making herself especially hard to find. So in order to find this person, he would have to go see some of the other forest inhabitants that he was not too keen on seeing.

If Ekwensu had one major vice, it was his personal dislike of the younger gods. There was nothing intrinsically wrong with them, but their domains were very specific and brought them closer to the purview of humanity's existing needs compared to his original domains of chaos then war. While he was a god of bargains and trade, he had to break into that by taking it from spirits of trade. The newer gods were also a lot more beloved, Ahia Njoku, with her domain of hearth and agriculture, Ikenga with his representation of strength among others.

The god that he was specifically looking for was also a young god compared to him, but one that demanded respect because of his deeds. He was also a reclusive God, not as much as Chukwu but still not a God that came to events like the upcoming feast.

Moving deeper into the forest, he began to notice the eyes of the forest on him. Several animals paused in their motions to look at him, from antelopes to the wild dogs. Ekwensu even started to notice that the very plants beneath his feet started to move out of the way and bend in a way that made them seem as if they were bowing. Ekwensu wished they wouldn't do this as he was not the kind of God that really had a taste for pageantry, he liked to style himself a fun deity. Also, the fact that the birds were starting to sing in a linear fashion, waving their wings and pointing them in a specific direction.

Ekwensu shook his head, following the indication of the birds as behind him, several of the animals started to follow behind him. He could spy various forest spirits poking their heads out from behind the tree. One spirit that did walk out to him was one that was indeed a delight for him to see. Nka Mmuo herself.

Like a lot of humanoid type spirits, she had a large mask covering her face. The mask was pale with a permanent mischievous smile carved into it with small slitted downward-pointing eyes. Upon the brow of the white mask were two small cymbals, the outer edges a light grey and the inner circle being brown. The fake hair was black and looked like an upside-down mop with five stalks of hair in the middle raised up like the funnels on a steamship. Attached to the mask was a golden headband. The headband around the back of her head rose up into a miniature replica of a palm frond, and the leaves on it swayed with the movements of her head. Her body was completely obscured by long robes which were a mix of green and brown colors. In her right hand, she held a flute, and around her legs were bangles that made a nice jingling sound with each step.

"Greetings Lord Ekwensu!" She said with her arms in a welcoming gesture as she walked backward while talking to him.

"To you as well Nka, I heard the last marriage you performed for was quite the spectacle," Ekwensu replied, genuinely smiling. There were few reasons to ever dislike a friendly spirit like her.

"The hotel got strained hosting 10000 guests, the hotel staff even had to ask some of the forest residents to secretly help with the festivities. The manager made the proper offerings of course." She replied cheekily

"I would assume so, proper transactions must be made for our services," Ekwensu said, tugging on the blazer of his business suit.

Nka Mmuo looked up and down at Ekwensu as they kept walking on, and reached out to his head.

"I miss how long your hair used to be my lord. It made you just as wild as the forest." Nka muttered mournfully

Ekwensu swatted away her hand with an annoyed look, "You know full well why I look like this now and trust me I am working on rectifying everything about my look."

Nka Mmuo nodded and turned around, a bit stung by Ekwensu's actions and instead of continuing the conversation, she instead planted her flute to her lips and began to play a sad tune much to Ekwensu's chagrin.

They came upon a clearing in the forest soon enough, and the spirits filed around the edges of the clearing, with many of the animals standing on the edges, even a giraffe was being cautious of him. Two spirits walked towards the center of the clearing, one was a gigantic Leopard, its spots glistening in the sunlight, and the other, a titanic elephant that almost reached past the height of the nearby giraffes.

Ekwensu had not seen these spirits since the 1910s when the British war machine needed wood to supply its 'Great War', and then again in the 1940s when an insane Austrian had dreams of empire. With the forests quickly vanishing many of the animal spirits had to retreat to a forest where they knew protection was guaranteed. Where they were once kings of their own forests, now they were just subjects here.

That made them no less regal, even Leopard still had mortal followers and worshippers. Elephant, on the other hand, was changing his tack with mortals, working with them to stop the ivory trade. Their sizes were smaller than they once were, with a massive population drop in their species, they diminished as well. Some spirits were absent from the glen, the animals they were the stewards of having gone extinct as well. Some spirits still lingered, their charges staying in zoos but it was still a slow death for the spirits.

Some of the spirits that were on the verge of extinction had abandoned their duties and become malevolent 'Ihe' spirits to survive, enacting vengeance on humans in different ways. It was the current way of things, but it was the nature of chaos for things to change. Ekwensu stopped reminiscing and noticed the space between Leopard and Elephant starting to shift and change.

Vines sprung up from the ground and started to wrap themselves around each other. Leaves and palm fronds started floating in the air, starting to form a downward facing crown obscuring a brown face. The leaves and vines started to form the shape of large burly arms and a very broad chest. Only the being's hands and feet were exposed, the left holding a flute and the right holding a three-pronged gong. He was tall, taller than the titanic elephant spirit for his domain was not restricted by the numeracy of life.

Ekwensu looked at him, this was one of the newer gods he had mused about. Ahobinagu, the lord of the forest. Ahobinagu had once been mortal thousands of years ago, a simple hunter. One day he grew bold and challenged all the animal spirits to a fight, boasting that he could best them all, for he wanted Leopard's title as king of the forest. To the surprise of everyone in the pantheon, the small mortal had defeated all the spirits at the height of their power with his bare hands. Chukwu had been so impressed he granted the mortal godhood and titled him, Ahobinagu, "He who walks in the forest".

By nature Ahobinagu had become a passive god, taking the duties Chukwu had granted him seriously, being kind to all the life within forests and protecting them as much as he could. When the Europeans came he struck them with ailments and horrors that they would not dare enter this section of forest. Even some of the skeletons dressed in colonial British uniform were still draped somewhere around the woods, with ant colonies using them as shelters for their queens.

The giant figure knelt before the much smaller Ekwensu, placing a hand on his chest in a salute. As he began to speak, his voice sounding out like the rustling of leaves.

"Lord Ekwensu, it has been a century since you graced this forest. Why have you come here?" The giant god asked

Straight and to the point as always, thought Ekwensu

"I am looking to find one of the residents of your forest. I am specifically looking for Chameleon." He replied

Leopard and Elephant turned to look at Ahobinagu, his expression unreadable with the downward crown covering his face.

"You have to know that Chameleon currently is wary of gods Lord Ekwensu." The giant replied softly

Ekwensu pursed his lips, confused.

"Why would she be wary of gods Ahobinagu?"

Ahobinagu slowly raised an arm to point to the nearby rivers beyond the forest edge.

"Idemili still harbors a grudge towards Chameleon for what happened long ago, and she has ordered her offspring and descendants to not show any mercy towards Chameleons. I thought that with Oguta and Urashi being gone thanks to you and Ogbunabali, Chameleon and her animals could be safe, but their mother Njaba has taken over their domain until their punishment ends."

Ekwensu kicked the ground in irritation, though it made him a hypocrite to think this, the gods could be very petty and hold grudges for millennia. He mused until he had an idea, and turned towards Ahobinagu.

"In that case, forest lord, I wish to offer her a deal that she would find irresistible." He stated

Ahobinagu looked at all the spirits of the forest, who nodded before he gave his reply,

"You have always been fair in your bargains, chaos lord, but I will still be watching."

That was about as much as Ekwensu had expected, but it was nice to at least make some headway towards his eventual goal. He suspected that he would eventually have to do a lot of side tasks for others in order to get his way, very few gods and spirits did anything for free after all.

He heard the sound of someone cautiously stepping on the grass, and he spied the grass itself moving, but couldn't see what was causing the grass to move. He didn't need to, it was obvious who was coming towards him. He decided to take a non-threatening posture by sitting down with his legs crossed tightly and waited patiently. It didn't take long for Chameleon to eventually shed her concealment and look at him. While looking like your average West African Chameleon, she was as tall as a man, which made her always rotating eyes look that much more disturbing.

"Before I accept your offer, my lord," she began nervously, "I need to know, in front of Ahobinagu, and Kings Leopard and Elephant, what you desire from me."

Ekwensu nodded, he had no reason to lie to anyone here.

"Lady Chameleon, I wish to purchase for a time, your ability to change shape."

Everyone, even Ahobinagu was taken aback by the request. Chameleon narrowed her eyes.

"I am used to mortals in the past coming to my Mbari to ask for this ability. But never a God, why would a god need to hide, and who would they need to hide from?", she asked tentatively

"I intend to commit an action that will likely damn me for eternity, but my intent is not malicious I assure you. You may even ask Eziokwu mmuo, the spirit of truth, to judge the veracity of my claim if you desire."

Chameleon paced about, her legs awkwardly splayed about as her tail twitched.

"I will lend you my ability if you do one thing for me." She offered

Ekwensu internally grimaced, likely having an idea what it was that she would ask.

"I want you to consult with Njaba herself, and get her through whatever means you deem appropriate, to get her to leave me alone. I cannot drink without the assistance of others for fear of retaliation for something I did that wasn't even wrong."

Ekwensu looked up in relief, "Honestly I thought you would want me to talk to Idemili herself."

"I doubt even you could sway her my lord, better to go lower and just ask one of her daughters. But I know your own history with Njaba, so if you can pull this off. I will give you my power."

Ekwensu bowed, with a nod, thinking back to the events that started Chameleon's woes as he walked in the direction of the Njaba river to the east.

200 BCE

The great halls of Chukwu were alight with festivity once more. Ahobinagu was one of the newer guests, along with several other young gods, sitting further away from the older gods, as was the tradition. Ekwensu was helping Onwu into his chair and giving him his cutlery. Several deceased mortals were there as well, some were on the path to reincarnation, others had applied to become familial spirits, helping their descendants long after death. Anyanwu and Onwa were wearing their best dresses Chukwu looked his starry self, as usual, keeping the most distance from the party.

Chukwu rose up impatiently, and everyone flinched slightly. Chukwu was usually genial but recently he had a falling out with a mortal friend, that friend had even come on a quest to Chukwu's house to ask his forgiveness but Chukwu was in no mood for it.

"I know that we don't have everyone here, but I wish to raise a toast to the newest member of the pantheon. Ahobinagu, you shall become the Lord of the Forest officially, you will protect all within your domain." Chukwu belted, his voice trembling with frustration that he tried to hide.

As he sat down, the doors were thrown open violently, and everyone turned to see Idemili striding through with a beaming smile on her face, followed by her many daughters and granddaughters. Her offspring were all playing cymbals and making merry as they followed their progenitress towards Chukwu. With a quick snap of her fingers, the band grew silent.

"Greetings Chukwu," she said with a cheeky grin.

Chukwu shifted in his chair, putting his cheek on his right fist as he looked down at Idemili and her procession.

"What are you planning now Idemili?" Chukwu asked in a curious yet bored tone.

Idemili smiled and turned around to face the rest of the gods in the hall.

"We all know that I am the most beautiful goddess in this world correct?" She asked the crowd

Most of the goddesses openly scoffed while a lot of the other denizens heartily agreed.

"Right, so today as I was preparing myself for this celebration, and noted to myself, I am not just the most beautiful goddess, I am the most beautiful being." she continued, turning back to Chukwu, "In fact I believe I am far more beautiful than you Chukwu, and as such, I believe that you should bow down to me."

At that declaration, Chukwu threw his head back and roared with laughter. The laughter shook the very halls and ground that they walked on, he was even slapping his knees as the other beings nervously laughed with him, while others looked shocked at Idemili's proclamation.

Chukwu finally calmed down and looked down at Idemili, lowering his face to look at her.

"I do agree that you are indeed beautiful Idemili. However, that does not give you the right to my position." He said with an amused tone

"Then I propose a contest", she responded defiantly, not backing down

Chukwu raised an eyebrow at that, "What type of contest did you have in mind?"

Idemili placed one hand on her hips while determinedly pointing her right hand at Chukwu, "I propose a fashion contest, the most fashionable being wins control of the cosmos."

Chukwu sat up straight, pensive but bemused. "I will accept your challenge on one condition ocean mother."

That surprised everyone, Chukwu never really had an eye for fashion, preferring to stay in a rather celestial form.

"You must first prove to me that you can beat one of my servants before taking on me." Chukwu proposed

Idemili confidently laughed, "I am certain I will be more fashionable than any of your servants."

Chukwu then waved over Chameleon who was sitting nearby, to come before him and Idemili.

"Idemili, have you ever met Chameleon before?" Chukwu asked sincerely,

"No, I don't tend to know animal spirits that don't live in the water." She replied matter of factly.

"Interesting, Chameleon, do you agree to take up the challenge in my stead?" Chukwu asked kindly

Chameleon eagerly nodded, proud to do something for her creator.

"Very well, the contest shall take place tomorrow." Chukwu declared

Modern Day

The contest, in Ekwensu's memory, had been spectacular. It had taken place right at the beach, allowing Idemili to return to the ocean to select a new outfit each time. What had surprised her was that every time she emerged with a new outfit, Chameleon wore the exact same outfit. This went on for several hours, Idemili not getting wise to the fact that Chameleon was simply shape-shifting her clothes. Eventually, Idemili gave up, stating that if she couldn't beat one of Chukwu's creations, she couldn't beat Chukwu.

When she eventually found out about the shape-shifting, she wasn't too pleased and took it out on Chameleon over the centuries, ordering her daughters to do the same. That was a situation Ekwensu hoped to rectify in order to accomplish his goal.