Legendaria

Welcome to my story!

I was born just outside of the Dinosaur Swamps. Mama was from the city though, and she told me great
stories of what it was like, enough so as to make me want to go there and see it for myself. Papa did
his best to instill a love for the swamp in me, and taught me many things, but he never could have
prepared me for city life. Mama tried, but with the few villages being close enough to travel to being
so small, she couldn't give me a taste of anything more than good manners and a bit of street smarts that
don't make much sense to a swamp-raised kid. When my powers started showing, Papa thought for sure I was
going to stay in the swamp forever, since that's where my talents are most useful. But I was curious,
and decided to go out into the world, against his better judgement.

So now that I've opened this can of soul-worms (a phrase I got from Papa) I'll continue on into my story
from where I choose to start, a nameless small town. Well, not sooooo small, but small enough where
it can be called a small town. I was wandering around aimlessly, which is my normal activity when I
enter a small town, and I decided to hit the local bar. Mama always told me that's where the most action
is in any city, because all the people who want to hire a good tracker usually start there, since they
know that most trackers don't know all that much about city life. Not that I need the work, but there
might be a few kindred spirits in the bar.

Upon entering, I almost ran into a nice-looking guy, not handsome, but nice-looking, and he followed me
into the bar and bought me my glass of wine. I was cautious, of course, since he was a perfect
stranger at the time, but Jack turned out to be a pretty decent fellow, journeying around same as I am.

I noticed at that point a dark figure at a table in the back of the bar. Naturally curious as a female, I
watched him for a little while out of the corner of my eye, but I wasn't looking for trouble, and if he
wanted to hide out back there, then let him, I say. That was until the bar keep came up to us,
however. He came up to ask us if we were from out of town. Now, I can't say that question did much for
my opinion of the bar keep's intelligence. It was pretty obvious to me that neither one of us were from
around here, since we weren't dressed at all like the normal patrons, most of which were in uniforms. I
suppose he just wanted to be sure, but in any case, we told him we were. Then he says that there's
a customer looking to hire a couple of out-of-towners. Well, as much as I was curious about the
job, I don't need one, so I wasn't going to just jump up and say "Sure" without some more information.
Jack on the other hand, it looked to me like he was pretty eager for work, so I took the room number
of the guy we were supposed to meet and talk to, and sat back to finish my wine.

A few minutes later the bar keep walked over with two dinners, compliments of our potential employer, who
choose that moment to leave the bar. We ate, discussing the possiblities of the job, and decided
that it would be a good idea to have a little more information on our potential employer before rushing
into any job with him. I figured the desk attendant ought to be able to tell us something. So
we walked over to the hotel.

I had planned originally to just ask the desk clerk what the guy was like, but then I noticed the boy
standing quietly against the wall. Obviously the proprietor's kid, I figured he was acting as what Mama
used to call a "bell-hop." Kids are easier to talk to in the long run, and I figured that his Dad
might not be aimable after a few minutes conversation with him. So I hired Jack and I the kid
as a tour guide, and asked him a few questions along the way. I realized he was a smart kid right
away when he avoided most of my questions, but the promise of a little more cash was enought to get some
help from the kid. We didn't learn much, but I think it was helpful in the longrun.

We then decided to go see the man who was trying to hire us, to hear what he had to say. A million
credits, upfront, all expenses paid, and all we have to do is go to Lonestar and try to find what's
left of Joshua Collins, our employer's friend and business associate. Sounds pretty suspicious to me.
Why pay us so much for "a very simple job?" Because there might be a new alien race involved.
Okay, why not send his own people to find the guy or go himself? He can't leave his business, I'm
assuming, but surely he has underlings who could handle this? What the heck, I'll take the job and
when the rats come out of hiding we can deal with them.

I hope.

Blake (the kid from earlier) then led us to a small house just outside of town. He told us we were
supposed to look for the switch, so I spent some time searching for it. Not finding it, and feeling
the effects of my earlier dinner, I found that I had to go to the bathroom. As I was busy in there, a
panel of the floor opened up, and Jack told me all about it when I came out, as it had closed up again
before I left the confines of the bathroom. (Quick side note, I've found that I'm getting used to
the luxuries of city life. A bathroom, imagine that! Glad Mama told me about them and showed me what
to do with them before I left!) I retraced our steps (well, my steps) and we found that by flushing
the toilet we could get the door to open.

Down below there was a set of stairs, and we found two very cool belts and various weapons in the room. I
grabbed what I thought would be enough for me, and ran back up to our main house, where I went to eat.
Jack followed me around for a while, and then we both went to bed, in separate rooms, exhausted.

At 6 a.m. the next day, I was awakened by the loud humming of a large hover transport. The knock on the
door preceded a pilot who said he was to take us to Lonestar to begin our quest. Wow, what luxury
again! I'm going to have lots of stories for Mama and Papa if I ever get back home!

And that, dear readers, ends the story for now...

Back toThe Echo of My Mind
Back to Rifts Musings
On to Legendaria's Stats