In the ancient past of some, it is said that the world once was blanketed by snow thicker than that found atop Kilimanjaro. Yet others say that it was a fiery land even hotter than the Sahara in early afternoon. All agree that the gods made the world such that man can live.

The tribes of the Congo claim that the gods made the jungle. Others claim that the gods made wooded vales with streams running through. Some say that the gods made the vast plains. All are true, or perhaps none. But the living land holds a power all its own, tied to no god. Once long ago there were several wizards of the savanna, each guiding and aiding a tribe by channeling the spirit essence of the earth and the life force.

Then there was devastation. The tribes warred amongst each other each seeking to control the essence and control the other peoples. The spirits became angry and fled. Long was it that not a single wizard of the savanna could summon the essence and, slowly, one by one they died or faded away or left to seek the essence of far away lands. The people weakened and others from far away places came and dominated them.

When finally peace began to settle into the land of the savannas, the people began to leave or build enormous cities. Nearly all had forgotten about the essence of the savanna. But not all.

Among a single tribe now living within the borders of a land called Kenya, there was a family who was deemed by all others of their tribe as eccentric. They did things - said strange words, made strange motions, mixed strange things together. All that to no effect although they continued to claim that some day - maybe tomorrow, maybe the next generation, maybe ten generations to come - the magic would return. Most treated them as eccentrics, some derided them privately or publicly. A woman passed knowledge onto her son; he passed knowledge onto her daughter; and so forth. Finally, a woman of this family was the first for many many generations to be able to feel the essence and to use the knowledge. And she named her son, Serengeti, and taught him as her father taught her. Only now, she wielded magic as she taught and he did, too.

On her fiftieth birthday, the woman ascended to the top of Kilimanjaro. She looked at the plains below - swaying grass, moving herds - and waited for night to fall. Finally, gazing at the multitude of stars in the heaven and at the bright full moon, she spread her arms and simply said, "Here I am."

Her body disappeared and her essence merged with that of the savanna. And her son, sleeping a great distance away upon the soft grass felt it happen, suddenly feeling closer to the essence and at the same time closer to his mother. It was as if he had all along been holding a pot of water and now the pot was connected to Nalubaale itself. And it was his mother that was the vast pipe that connected his pot to Nalubaale.

The land of the Serengeti and Rift Valley, along with its plants, animal, and people, is the domain of the wizard, Serengeti. He is servant to the domain rather than ruler of the domain. Those who defile the Land or lay waste to its people or its other living creatures are his enemy. He joined Africa Force seeing their good purpose and their conviction to their purpose. And of the Africa Force One team, he is at once both the most powerful and the least reliable. That is not to say that he cannot be counted upon when the team is in trouble, but he does have his own agenda that occasionally comes in conflict.

"This is the land that gave birth to you. How would you treat your own mother?"

The wizard, Serengeti, is the sole surviving Wizard of the Savanna. He can tap its essence and wield a variety of magic spells that derive from the Serengeti Plains and Rift Valley. The Land protects him and he can channel this protection to guard his allies as well. And, although, he doesn't make any effort to understand modern technology, he does wear an Africa Force Suit made very user friendly by his teammate, Jean-Pierre Nthanda (Resolute).

He wears a simple loincloth of the softened hide of an antelope. He carries a staff enchanted from a young baobab with many carvings and a quintet of rootstubs protruding from the bottom. There are herbs and a variety of small things in a pouch attached to the loincloth. The only adornment that he displays is an ebony amulet intricately carved to the shape of elephant, tied about his neck by a cord of dried vines.