On the 21st day of Gbisabika in the Year 1606 of Serene Peace, known to others as 12 September 1265, Alááfin Zùlema passed away at the age of 81. It was a humble end to an ambitious life. Her successor would be her only daughter Ofùgáki, oldest of two children, taking on the regnal name of Eléná na Zùlema, Zùlema the Fifth. In choosing this name, she recognised the reign of the first Zùlema, the reign of his great-grandson Zùlema the Second, the reign of Zùlema the Angry and the reign of her mother. She did not recognise the reigns of the three pretenders commonly seen as alááfins who were also called Zùlema, from the Onyèafùn, Mbadoja and Záfá dynasty. They had reigned, respectively, for a few months, eight years and six years and their reign and their dynasties were widely unpopular. Eléná Zùlema wisely chose not to celebrate their reign with the choice of her regnal name.

The yako-uyó, soldier nobles, were all invited to Uwára, first for the funeral of Zùlema. A pyre was constructed in the Square By The Temple and it stood twelve metres tall. The deceased Alááfin, embalmed, lay on top of the pyre. The structure was protected day and night, not by soldiers but by devout commoners and even slaves who saw the Alááfin as nothing short of a demigod. Their wailing was a constant in the week she lay bared on top of the pyre. Simultanously, a week-long service was held in the Temple By The Square by different mtataza who recited stories of faithful individuals, sang songs about the afterlife and comforted people, who came and went the entire week. Of the roughly thirteen million people living in Tozàn, over two million people visited the pyre, the temple or the funeral service. At 81 with a reign just shy of forty years, the average Obibo had known no other Alááfin than her.

After a week, the pyre was lifted up by no less than two hundred yako-uyó, who carried the entire structure east towards the harbour. The procession was accompanied with music, torches and thousands of voices chanting prayers. The pyre was painstakingly placed in an empty hull and pushed into the Ilesi river. A hundred yako-uyó shot their flaming arrows at the floating pyre, setting it on fire. Burning bright, Alááfin Zùlema Oba Aghake passed into the night.

The next morning, Tozàn experienced a "the king is dead, long live the king"-esque feeling. All signs of mourning were gone with the exception of perhaps the pyre, but even that one had floated out of Uwára's sight already. It was time for the ascension of Eléná Zùlema, which was a thing to celebrate!

The ceremony of Eléná's ascension had lavish, extravagant and exotic. It needed to justify her reign, because the nobility had not forgotten that her mother had taken the throne through what was essentially brute force. At dawn, on the 28th day of Gbisabika, Eléná stood in the middle of the Square By The Temple where the pyre had been only a day ago. She wore nothing but a cotton cloth, worn around her body loosely, looking like a beggar. The square was guarded by the slave soldiers of the Òjáté Ubémé, surrounding the Alááfin bowing down towards her with their knees and foreheads on the ground. People gathered behind them, mostly yako-uyó but also commoners.

When the sun became fully visible, Eléná began walking towards the inclining path that led to the Great Mudbrick Palace. As she walked, high-ranking, famous yako-uyó came forward, dressing her in silk and jewels and then humbly bowing down as she shed the cotton cloth. Generals bowed before her, handing her a bow and a silver arrow. Her queens bowed, offering a spear made entirely from ivory. Before the path to the Great Mudbrick Palace, a raised platform had been constructed. On top was a great granite tablet which belonged to the Temple By The Square, an ancient artifact square in shape with deep grooves. It was meant for sacrifice and it dated from when the original temple had still been used to honour Bí. On rare occassions, such as during great disasters or at the ascension of the Alááfin, human sacrifice was still practised.

Three broad-shouldered young men and two voluptuous girls were raised to the platform before Eléná. They were clearly not Obibo and had to have been captured in one of the border regions. The Katazu herself regarded them as lower-ranking mtataza used golden knives to slice open their necks and their blood was disgorged over the granite tablet, filling the grooves with a unique pattern, leaving it to the Katazu to discern Kaya's will.

First, Eléná reached the middle of the square, where the Crown of Golden Twigs was given to her by her brother the prince. With the crown on her head, ivory spear in her left hand and bow in her right, she went up to the Katazu, who prophecised great wealth and military glory in the future of Eléná Zùlema. After that, Eléná, having gone from looking pretty mortal to seeming almost divine, was placed on top of a golden litter on an elephant. Behind her, a procession formed and followed her towards the Great Mudbrick Palace. At the palace, she turned to the crowd and spoke for the first time.

"Bow." She said, and all bowed their heads.

"Now raise your chin, Obibo. Live proud, live loyal, live pious."

Eléná turned away from the crowd, held her breath and then sighed with relief. It was over. The crowd began to cheer and to chant:

"Alááfin zàn bì màmbò dagwe!"

May the Alááfin live ten thousand years

"Alááfin zàn yama màmbò yamái!"

May the Alááfin win ten thousand victories

"Alááfin zàn záa màmbò eláne!"

May the Alááfin receive ten thousand blessings

"Alááfin zàn shéré màmbò eláne!"

May the Alááfin give ten thousand blessings

"Alááfin zàn shéré zùli ibòn Tozàn!"

May the Alááfin bring glory to Tozàn!

"Zùli! Zùli! Zùli!"

"Zùlema! Zùlema! Zùlema!"

"Eléná! Eléná! Eléná!"

After the chanting had subsided, all slaves present on the hill of the Great Mudbrick Palace were given their freedom. A feast and a banquet was held on top of the hill and there was music all throughout Uwára as well as drinking and carousing. The party would last until dawn and it would not be limited to the capital. In all of Tozàn, people would gather around Amàrì-uyó, the musician nobles, who would sing beautiful stories about past Alááfins and also herald the glorious future to come.

Alááfin Eléná Zùlema herself retreated to her nwévò, the harem. It would be the first time for her the first thing she would do was dismiss all those her mother had kept there whom she herself disliked. With those who remained, Eléná held a modest celebration. She was glad nothing bad had happened and she was eager to be in charge full-time. She was thirty-five years old, so she had enough years ahead of her. Enough years to not simply die as the daughter of her mother, but to have made a name for herself in history.