Serpent Cult
In Reality Z-25 31-H, the Serpent Cult was a murderous cult based in the Temple of the Serpent God in the Naked Jungle of Buranda. It was originally led by the Serpent Priest, who, by means of a magical golden tiara known as the Artifact, had the power to telepathically control any snakes, including a giant one unknown to modern science known as Nerkash, whom he portrayed to the Cult as “the Serpent God”, though in truth it was a dumb beast whose apparent intelligent behaviour was puppeteered by the Priest.
Eventually, mysterious disappearances and deaths in the region (which had taken a particular toll on the Natari, most of whose adult male population had been wiped out) were linked back to the Cult and Kaza defeated the Priest. However, he did not realise the man possessed any supernatural powers, accusing him of being a powerless charlatan. After the Cult's power was broken, the Priest eventually ended up dying in the Temple of the Serpent God, with his old throne as his skeleton's final resting place.
Ten years later, his daughter Nerlana, who wished to recover the Artifact so she could restart the Cult, made her way to the Temple with Mitchell and successfully got the tiara from the snake-covered skeleton. She successfully recruited a sizable power-base and tried to intimidate the surviving Natari. However, news of the Cult's resurgence made their way to the Commissioner and, through him, to Kaza, now married to Gwenna. Nerlana had sent an assassin to the kraal near Buranda Pass to kill the Commissioner, but Gwenna, on whose presence she hadn't counted, was able to disarm him.
Meanwhile, however, Kaza made the mistake of heading directly to the Temple, where he was ambushed by Nerlana, who revealed the magical powers of the tiara to him. She captured him, intending to publicly sacrifice him to Nerkash that very night. However, the Commissioner and Gwenna learned about the planned ceremony at the Natari village, and had Gana's warriors surround the Temple. When Nerlana summoned Nerkash, a startled Wimberly shot at the beast, wounding it; the sight of the “god” bleeding broke most cultists' fragile faith on the spot, causing them to scatter. It also caused Nerlana to lose control of the serpent, who ended up eating her instead of Kaza. (COMIC: The Serpent Sorceress)
