Rahan. Episode Ninety-Nine. By Roger Lecureux. The Madness of Ivory. A Puke (TM) Comic.

Index:
https://rumble.com/v3486cm-rahan-index-of-episodes-by-roger-lecureux..html

Source of Rahan Comics:
Philippe Ropers.
https://vk.com/topic-203785966_47424128

Rahan.

Episode Ninety-Nine.

By Roger Lecureux, drawn by Andre Cheret.

The Madness of Ivory.

The exhausted hunter no longer had the strength to resist the vultures who competed with him for the meat of a “Two-tooth.”

Courage brothers! The “Featherless necks" will not tear you apart!

Seizing the man's spear, Rahan attempted to disperse the cloud.
Ra-ha-ha!

But he was in turn harassed and pecked.
There are too many "Featherless Necks", brother!
Let us abandon this meat!

Page Two.

While protecting himself from the Raptors, Rahan dragged the hunter towards a crevice.
What is the point? Tawa is going to die!

Tawa will join “The Territory of Shadows” without having brought meat back to his family.

Tawa is weak because he is hungry, but he will not die.
Rahan will bring him back to his clan.

But why did Tawa attack a “Two-tooth”?
It was not Tawa who killed "Two-tooth" but those of the ivory clan!

Those of the ivory clan kill all the "Two-tooths" to take their "Teeth".
They massacre only for the ivory.

And leave behind the meat that my people miss so much.
Only the “Featherless Necks” benefit from this carnage.

Page Three.

The birds of prey had disappeared, leaving only thin shreds of flesh on the carcass.
Tawa will never be able to drag himself up the big hill.

Rahan will take you there!
The son of Crao, with his customary skill, had already made a solid Travoi.

A little later.
You saved Tawa and scraped the bones of the "Two-tooth" to bring meat back to mine.
Why so much generosity? Who are you then?

I am Rahan, son of Crao.
Rahan has no clan, no horde, but his heart beats for all "Those-who-walk-upright"!

They reached a bamboo forest when the first drops pattered on the foliage.
The spirits are against you, "Firehair."

Page Four.

Because the “Tears of Heaven” will make our meat rot even more!
Do not worry, Tawa, Rahan knows how to protect meat.

A large cut bamboo served as a “Cache”.
The travoi covered it.
And There you go! The sky can cry all night.

So your clan is suffering from hunger because “Those of the Ivory” are needlessly decimating the “Two Teeth”!

And so it will be as long as Ghowk-the-fool is alive.
Ghowk only desires ivory, only thinks of ivory, only dreams of ivory!

The rain stopped suddenly but large drops still fell from the valleys.
And suddenly.
Listen.

The drops fell on the Travoi's taut skin and the bamboo resonated curiously.
Tom, Tom, Tom.
It is our “Meat Cache” that sings!

Page Five.

Amused, the son of Crao tapped the can and the sounds became louder, fuller.
Listen. Listen.

And according to the vigor of his taps the sounds varied, modulated.
We have discovered how to make bamboo sing!
Tam, tom, tam!

Rahan's joy was brief.
Look! The fiery-haired sorcerer has captured Tawa!
He wants to kill him with his magic noises!

No! Do not strike!
Rahan did not capture Tawa.
On the contrary, he saved him from the “Featherless Necks”!

And brought him back to the big hill with the meat that is in this “Singing Bamboo”!
Rahan is our brother!
And the meat is yours!

Page Six.

A moment later the hunters shared the tiny shreds of flesh equally between them.
Despite their hunger, mine know how to stay fair!

Rahan likes that “Those-who-walk-upright” do not behave like wild animals!
He will be the friend of your clan, Tawa!

The village of Tawa was close.
There, the son of Crao encountered the sad spectacle of famine.
Every day we lose one of our own.

Those who went to ask “Ghowk the fool” to stop the massacre of the “Two-Tooths” never came back!
Why do you not hunt other game?

The beasts of our forests are cunning.
We set traps for them, but they always avoid them!

Page Seven.

We must not wait for them to fall into traps!
You have to attract them or push them there!
You could do this by surrounding the game and scaring it with your screams and noises.

With noises.
Oh! The “bamboo-that-sings"! The tom-tom!
The son of Crao would, once again, take advantage from a discovery due to chance circumstances.

And he set to work making many experiments.
Thinner and drier skin “Sing” better.
Tom-tom, tam-tom.

And smaller bamboos will be lighter for hunters! Hear that, brothers!
Tom-tam!

With the "Tom Tom," you can alert yours to danger, find yourself in the forest, track game and push it towards traps!

Page Eight.

May the good spirits be thanked for having introduced you to Tawa, “Fire Hair”!
Tom-tam, tom-tam.

Where does the “Ivory Clan” live? Rahan would like to meet Ghowk the fool!
Do not do this.
I already told you that those who braved Ghowk never came back!

No one could make the son of Crao reconsider his decision.
That was why the next day he climbed the big hill.

When the bushes were too dense he took the path of the "four hands".

The sun was still at its zenith when he dominated a large valley.
Oh! How many “Two-tooths” were massacred to build this ivory passage.

Page Nine.

At the bottom of the valley stretched to the opposite slope a fantastic tunnel made of mammoth tusks!

Shortly after, with his heart thumping, the son of Crao went under this arch where the sun strangely played.

The flesh of all these "Two-tooths" could have fed ten clans for the lifetime of a hunter.

Rahan walked for a long time before finally seeing, at the end of this tunnel, the entrance to a cave.
Rahan arrives without doubt at the lair of Ghowk-the-fool!

What demon are you to dare to take the “Sacred Path?”

Page Ten.

The moment of astonishment passed, these men dashed forward.
Their ivory javelins whistled.
You do not know that Rahan is more agile than a "Two-tooth"!

Assailed by the pack, Rahan would have had the right to kill.

But he used the javelins in another way!
Ra-ha-ha!

However, the fight was too unequal and he was defeated. A sharp point rested on his throat when.
Stop!
Ghowk orders you to free this hunter!

His limbs weighed down with ivory ornaments, his eyes feverish, Ghowk the fool had just intervened!

Page Eleven.

You do not see any clearer than the "beast-that-lives-under-the-earth!"
Look at the weapon. Look at the hunter's weapon!
It is made of ivory! This man is therefore of our race!

No, Rahan is not on the side of those who needlessly slaughter game and starve other clans!
This desire to possess more and more ivory has made you lose your mind!

You will pay with your life for your insolence like all those who defied Ghowk!

The son of Crao was dragged into the cave where everything was made of ivory.
The totem where he was tied up, and the torch holders where the torches burned.

Before you die you must know that we will kill all the "Two-tooths"!
All! All! All!

We will cover this cave with ivory!
We will cover the valley! We will live under ivory!
On the ivory! Into the ivory!

Page Twelve.

We will even live with the memory of all those who dared to defy Ghowk!
You will be in the territory of shadows for a long time, but we will still be able to contemplate your face, as we contemplate those who preceded you!
Ghowk pointed out small figurines also carved in ivory.

As soon as your face has been reproduced, you will be put to death. Get to work, Gahaor!

The old man came and sat down facing the captive, a mammoth tooth in one hand, and a few flints in the other.
The clan will not return until tomorrow.

Here is this insolent's knife.
If he does not fulfill all your wishes, cut his throat!

Ghowk and his people disappeared.
A herd of “Two teeth” was reported half a day's walk away.

Page thirteen.

And Ghowk wants to continue the massacre!
Do not talk about these things!

You do not seem to approve of Ghowk!
Why do you obey him, Gahaor?
What could I do? You now know what happens to those who resist him!

Over the hours, under the precise and meticulous blows of the old man, the figurine took shape.

And Rahan recognized his face, the reflection of which he had often seen in light sources.

At dawn, clamors announce the return of the clan.
Fire hair is an evil spirit!
He is the one who made us lose track of the herd!

We did not kill a single one “Two-tooth.”
Oh!
But here is a pleasure which compensates for this failure!

Page Fourteen.

Look at all of this!
Gahaor has never achieved such a resemblance!
Fire hair can now join the territory of shadows!

Men lined up facing Rahan, javelins brandished, when strange noises resounded on the large hill.

And the mammoths appeared on the ridge and descended towards the sacred vault for which so many of their number had been massacred.
Ivory comes to us, the hunters! Ivory! Even more ivory!

In his delirium, Ghowk and his clan went to meet the monsters.

At the end of the "Sacred Path" he saw the enormous wave of hair and flesh surging.
Ivory! Ivory!

These were the last words of Ghowk who disappeared, trampled, crushed, buried in this land that he dreamed was lined with ivory!

Page Fifteen.

It is a chance for us!
And I can finally do what I always wanted!
Gahaor liberated Rahan.

Take back your weapon and run away “Fire hair”!
Flee with me!
What is the point!

The fantastic vault was falling apart before the charge of the pachyderms.
Those of the “Ivory Clan” had disappeared.

When the great hill bristled with men who hammered in succession, on what would be called "Tom-toms” a millennia later.

And the mammoths, annoyed by this haunting music, disappeared in their turn.
Gahaor!

Page Sixteen.

Struck by a “Two-tooth” the old man had ceased to live.
His hand was still gripping the “Ivory Rahan”!
Our clan is happy to see you alive, “Fire hair”!

We knew you were in danger and we wanted to put an end to Ghowk and his massacrers!
When the herd was reported the idea came to us to drive it back into the valley with the "Tom-toms"!

Hunters will no longer kill the "Two-Teeth" except for food!
Happiness will return to this territory, but you will not know it!

You said that you were not from any clan, but the brother of all "Those-who-walk-upright"!
So you will leave again.
But every time we make the "Tom Toms" sing we will think of you!

The son of Crao indeed set off towards new horizons.
If he did not forget the Tawa clan.

He never knew that they sometimes meditated in front of an ivory figurine found in the cave of Ghowk. This was good because Rahan hated the worship of idols.