Tafari Ayodele

**Tafari Gadisse Tamesse Ayodele**, more commonly known as **Tafari Ayodele** and in Reich North Africa **The Lion**, is an African nationalist leader and militant, as well as the son of Nuukish General Tamesse Ayodele. Tafari is a vehement supporter of pan-Africanism, and a staunch and sometimes violent opponent of the Weltreich's dominion over North Africa. As such, he has conducted numerous raids against Reich outposts in North Africa, most notably the Battle of Algeirs, in which he and his followers raided a Reich supply station in Algeirs, taking all its weapons and funds and redistributing them among the African Libertarian Army. Such has made him a wanted criminal in the Weltreich, however, the Imperial Government refuses to extradite him. As such, he is able to continue his operations while moving from location to location, though he most often resorts in Pemba, Maputo, Addis Ababa, Yaounde, and Cape Town.

## Early Life

Tafari was born on June 19th, 2996 in Pemba, Duchy of East Africa, to his father Tamesse Ayodele, peraps the most skilled of all generals in the Sakkutuut, and his mother, Singobile Ado Ayodele, a Mozambican woman born as Singobile Ado in Pemba who met Tamesse in the mid-2990s. Tafari's early life was filled with discipline. His father, a jovian man but stern instructor, taught him proper social conduct from an early age. His father had him enrolled in the Pemba All-Curriculum Academy, a prestigious school that taught grades 6-12, plus college education. For the first two years, Tafari lived at home and travelled to school, but from the 8th grade on he lived on-campus. There he made a good many friends, and became enamored by the school's culture. He was also shocked to find during his history lessons the true nature of his father. Until then, he had little understanding of his father's profession beyond that he was in the military, and was very important. In his history classes, he learned that his father was a mighty general who had lead massive campaigns against the Weltreich during the Greater Decade's War, and had seen greater sacrifice than most would ever see in their lifetime. Tafari was in awe, but was also envious. He didn't want to live his life in his father's shadow, but he knew if he did nothing of significance he would never be known as his own man. He studied relentlessly for his schooling, dead-set on being the greatest student at the academy. He passed all his exams with flying colors, and by the 12th grade was recognized as a student unlike almost any other. He enlisted again for college progams, and gained several degrees in sciences, arts, and most importantly, tactics, much to his father's elation.

## Pan-Africanism

Tafari's school life had limited him from seeing the world. He lacked understanding of most of the world's customs, and after graduation he seeked to educate himself. He traveled across southern Africa, seeking wisdom from those he encountered. However, he found the whole experience very industrial; he traveled by plane or car, and traveled with several body guards. His method of traveling felt very new-age to him, and much to his detriment he felt like an outsider in his own homeland. He escaped from the camping site one night, and made his way off into the wilderness. With little protecting him against the elements, he was found freezing and hungry by Nswati Mg'Lovik, a local Swazi hunter. Nswati took him to his clan, where he was fed and clothed in traditional Swazi style. Fortunately for him, Nswati spoke Greenlandic, and was able to speak translate for him. When Tafari opened up about how he felt, that he was a stranger in his own homeland, Nswati told him, "You are an African, brother. Nothing will change that, whether you want to or not." Tafari spent several weeks in the care of the Swazi, learning their customs and language, and under Nswati, coming to believe that all Africans are one people, divided by arbitrary fueds. In his own mind, however, he went further. He theorized that the African people had been divided by foreign politics for too long; that in the 19th and 20th centuries, he had learned, Europeans had divided the continent between themselves, and when they released it, divided it by arbitrary borders with no meaning to the locals. He viewed the Nuuk Empire and especially the Weltreich as the new Europeans, who had divided a continent in two without any regard to its own culture. His time with the Swazi helped him developed his pan-African ideology, and also an animosity towards what he called the invading powers. When time came for him to leave the Swazi, he left with the promise that he would liberate all Africans from the chains of foreign powers.

## Return Home

Tafari rode home up through Eswatini to Maputo, where he was discovered and returned to his father in Pemba. Tamesse, infuriated and terrified, scolded Tafari for running off on his own without alerting anyone. Tafari said he had learned more from the Swazi than he had ever before, much to Tamesse's exasperation. Tamesse called for an end to this foolish nonsense, and retired to his room for the night. Tafari had now been convinced his father would never buy into the pan-African ideology, that he sacrificed his homeland's sovereignty for the good of the Nuuk Empire.

## Libertarian Army

Tafari interacted with his father little after that. He searched the internet for pan-African movements, and in doing so found a discussion board dedicated to African Nationalism. There he posted his more militant opinions, and gained the support and love of many on the board. He called for the violent upheaval of the systems that chained down the African people, and eventually expressed his desires to go militant. Some were skeptical, however many were willing to follow him. He organized a rally in Pemba, where he gathered the earliest members of the Pan-African Liberation Army. The highest 15 of these - including Tafari - would become known as the Liberation Council, the highest executive organization in the Libertarian Army, besides the Head himself, that being Tafari. Among these were Onyeka Afolayan, the head of the Libertarian Army's dominant Military branch, Emeka Kamau, the Libertarian Army's chief diplomat, who intends to negotiate a peace treaty guaranteeing African unity and freedom following a hypothetical revolution against the Weltreich, and Moti Abiodun, a former Imperial soldier who now serves as a high-ranking general under Commander Afolayan.

Having summoned his first members, Tafari soon expanded his militia across southern Africa, its domain now including Mozambique, Rhodesia, Angola, and the Congo. It had become the chief rebel organization in Africa, and other, smaller rebel groups had merged with it. Tafari, despite his young age, has become a massively controversial political figure in Africa. His talks of establishing an African Confederation have stirred up further unrest, and as the Libertarian Army's influence grows, so too does the future of Africa become uncertain.