Post by Colonel Nick Fury on Oct 28, 2007 17:30:19 GMT -5
Wakanda
History
The Wakandan royal line began with Bashenga, an ancient Wakandan whose first and only appearance was in Black Panther v1 #7 from 1978. Bashenga was supposedly the first king of unified Wakanda, and the first Black Panther some 10,000 years ago.
In the distant past, a massive meteorite comprised of the sound-absorbing mineral vibranium crashed in Wakanda, and is unearthed a generation before the events of the present-day. T'Challa, the current Black Panther is the son of T'Chaka, the Black Panther before him and a descendant of Bashenga. Knowing that others would attempt to manipulate and dominate Wakanda for this rare and valuable resource, T'Chaka conceals his country from the outside world. He sells off minute amounts of the valuable vibranium while surreptitiously sending the country's best scholars to study abroad, consequently turning Wakanda into one of the world's most technologically advanced nations. Eventually, however, the explorer Ulysses Klaw finds his way to Wakanda, and covers up his work on a vibranium-powered, sound-based weapon. When exposed, Klaw kills T'Chaka, only to see his "sound blaster" turned on him by a grieving teenaged T'Challa. Klaw's right hand is destroyed, and he and his men flee.
Wakanda has an unusually high rate of mutation due to the dangerously mutagenic properties of the Vibranium Mound. A large number of these Wakandan Mutates are working for Erik Killmonger.
Vibranium radiation has permeated much of Wakanda's flora and fauna, including the Heart-Shaped Herb eaten by members of the Black Panther Cult, and the flesh of the White Gorilla eaten by the members of the White Gorilla Cult.
Panther Cult
After the vibranium meteor fell, a number of Wakandans were painfully mutated into "demon spirits" and began attacking their fellow Wakandans. T'Challa's ancestor, Bashenga became the first Black Panther and closed the vibranium mound to outsiders, forming a religious cult that guarded the mound and fought to keep the "demon spirits" from spreading across the kingdom. The Black Panther is a ceremonial and religious title given to the chief of the Panther Tribe. As part of the cult's ceremonies, A chosen Black Panther is entitled to the use of a heart-shaped herb that grants the person who consumes it enhanced strength, agility, and perception.
White Gorilla Cult
Wakanda evolved from a hunter-warrior society, and was traditionally ruled by its greatest warrior. The dominant Black Panther Cult outlawed the rival White Gorilla cult's worship in Wakanda.
M'Baku (Man-Ape) of the Jabari tribe is one of Wakanda's greatest warriors, second only to T'Challa, the Black Panther himself. While T'Challa, king of Wakanda, is on a several month leave of absence from Wakanda, the ambitious M'Baku plots to usurp the throne.
M'Baku flouts T'Challa's edicts and revives the White Gorilla Cult, killing one of the rare white gorillas living in the jungles near Wakanda. M'Baku bathes in the gorilla's blood and eats its flesh which "mystically" confers the gorilla's great strength upon M'Baku.
Lion Cult
Sekmeht the Lion God could possess the form of any human worshippers or the bodies of those sanctified and sacrificed by its worshippers, it transformed these subjects into human avatars of itself. He has a number of other powers, some of which he has demonstrated. Sekmeht could grow in size, move at rapid speeds, teleport itself and others, and alter its specific density. The Lion God possessed superhuman strength and durability, and it was immortal. It can manipulate the minds of the weak willed.
Little is known of the past history of the Lion God. It had apparently lost many worshippers over the years to the Cult of the Panther God, despite the fact that Sekmeht physically manifested before its followers, and the Panther God only appears to its priests.