If you want to be a potent Mahjee, you’re going to have to lose your mind. These words were carved in stone above the entrance to the underground chamber, deep beneath the sacred mountains of Jabbokanan, the place where the greatest Mahjuti practitioners go to test themselves.

Nabu Nin Azu was impatient. He wanted the wealth and power and influence that come from being a famous Mahjee. That’s why he undertook the trial of the twelve days of darkness in that chamber, without light, nourishment or any noise but the sound of his own breathing.

The Mahjee guardian of the initiation chamber could plainly see that Nabu wasn’t ready for the trial. Nevertheless, he handed Nin Azu a small linen pouch and advised him not to eat any of the contents until his hunger passed.

Nin Azu retreated into the darkness to await the gift of Mahjuti that he was sure would be bestowed upon him. It was probably about three days in when he fumbled open the linen bag and ate a few handfuls of the strange concoction that it contained. The food was spicy and sweet with a buttery aftertaste and texture. It was the legendary food of the Gods known as Kankau.

This special preparation is not for the faint-hearted or the unprepared. While the objective is to render a Mahjee temporarily insane there’s a real risk the initiate will end up permanently 'dirfed'.

Not long after Nabu finished consuming the pouch of Kankau, the visions began. The chamber lit up. Terror took him, followed closely by exhilaration, anxiety, a sense of peace and an amazing unshakeable faith in his own abilities. The Mahjuti coursed through his body like liquid gold. He thought he was going mad.

Then he realised he was a genius. It was all an illusion.

Kankau is extremely powerful. It can shatter the constraints of the mind, smash arrogance, or leave you drooling in the corner, muttering to yourself. Nabu probably got more dirfed than most do. To be honest he was probably well on the way to Dirf City even before he ate the Kankau. The concoction just accentuated his decline into insanity and that’s what gave him an unprecedented mastery of Mahjuti.

After the visions passed, Nabu took a more radical approach to achieving his goals. He decided to build his fortune and reputation by inspiring terror in the general population. Now, it’s only fair to say that Nabu Nin chose a relatively benign way of frightening the respect out of people.

Rather than stirring up storms or mastering the ancient art of cursing, he got creative. To cut a long story short, Nabu Nin Azu captured a Daemon. And not just any Daemon either. His target was the feared and renowned Whipjack Thraw, who, as it happened, was a fully-fledged Cacodaemon and rumoured to be over three hundred thousand years old.

No one’s going to mess with you if you’ve trapped a Cacodaemon. That takes an impressive mixture of craft, cunning and courage. It was some time before a few inquisitive sceptics confirmed Nabu’s initial claims. After that, his reputation was sealed in a sheath of pure gold. It was whispered that surely, he was the greatest Mahjee who had ever lived.

He certainly became the wealthiest.

*Matches with the tokens: - Whipjack Thraw, the Cacodaemon & - Shinnock the Croak with the Cacodaemon