The gate to the West is fraught with mystery, intrigue, & yes...danger.

It was thought by the Ancient Egyptians that to "go West" was to go to the afterlife. the Ba, or Egyptian concept of the greater soul, would travel onward to be tested by the Gods while the Ka, the lesser soul, remained with the body.

If it seems odd that I quibble about such esoteric matters, bear with me dear readers, bear with me.

As I passed the still patrolled border of what was once the proud TANN Alliance, I found myself beset by a stillness - for such a land of adventure, this humble scholar found the Wastes...peaceful. Serene.

Or, so I thought at first.

Armed with a natural curiosity I gained from my Mother & my Grandfather's winning smile, I was accompanied only by my trusty beast of burden Daisy as I was beset by a most fearsome apparition - rising before me like unto the Devil himself was a being calling itself the Thin Man - he bid me follow, & though an attempt was made, I fear a bungle on my part lefty my dear Daisy mortally injured!

I was, of course, beside myself with grief at this turn of events! The apparition assured me that this matter was not beyond it's mysterious powers...I only needed to rescue a young lady named Maya & destroy some "source of great abundance" along the way...pressing a leather ledger into my admittedly numbed hands, he pushed me on my way - that way being, the small frontier town of Pinwell.

There was an odd young lady who was spat out from the ground then, but after some interrogation they turned out not to be Miss Maya - I was aware of a certain skulking, shrouded figure following my trail, & thought it best to make haste to the town ahead. There, I pieced together, thanks to the mixed curse & blessing that is my the Psychic talent strong in my Mother's side of the family, I deduced that these desperate townies had been lured by the very demonic apparition that had accosted me to sacrifice travelers such as myself for a measure of water!

During this time, the young lady who had been spat from the sand proceeded to wave a lantern at everyone in sight, mumbling about prophecy, blessings, & similar incoherent nonsense.

Poor soul must have got to much sun.

As I made to win over the locals & acquire a serviceable firearm in the process, some great commotion came fro the building the women folk had retreated to! Shouting out for Maia among the fray, I gained a clue to the disappearance of the young lady, & traveling below the benighted bridge I would see my worst fears reality - some terrible power had been spat up from Hell in the form of a painting, & as the fallen Priest brandished it at the young lady chained like unto a sacrificial lamb, so too did the waters poor from her mouth & nostrils, as if like the headwaters of the great Mississippi herself!

Two surly men with scatter guns held vigil, but the strength of the righteous was with me that day, & I did in fact smote them with fire & great noise like unto the good book itself! The Priest turned his terrible Talisman my way, & so it was that my own lungs filled with the diabolical waters! Nothing a firm hand on the trigger of a Remington 12 gauge couldn't solve however!

The source of the spell broken & the girl saved, I would turn my efforts to saving the soul of the town, led astray by a wicked thing in the guise of a man...I say that, yet is it not true the Devil kept his word? My dead Daisy was returned to me unharmed...

The Mysteries of the West run deep, my friends. Returning to the village, it would seem the hooded figure assaulted the town folk, being revealed as an abomination not unlike an Arachnid in nature & apparently filled with the Devil's own fire! Several were killed before the creature was brought down, among them my little lantern wielding friend.

A sorry end...you were too innocent for this world. I will keep this spare lantern to remember you buy.

Having inspired the people of Penwell to look beyond their sins & have faith is such lost technologies as solar stills, deeper wells, & cisterns - it was time that I was on my way. Some of the townsfolk, despondent about the crimes they had committed while deceived by the Thin Man, could no longer call this place home & set out to find a new home & perhaps forgiveness elsewhere.

While Pinwell was an interesting adventure, my soul yet burned with wanderlust, & so it was that I accompanied these new pilgrims, at least for a time. I have taken the burden of the odd brass cup used in the Eucharist rite, fragments of the painting I destroyed, the Bible given to the Parson by the Thin Man, a lantern that belonged to poor young Moff (no surname), & this leather knapsack that belonged to the abomination...an abomination by the name of Sylvia Silkwood (!) no less.

Among other goods I liberated for my troubles, I found that each of them had a leather quarto journal just like the one the Thin Man had pressed to me - agents of this creature then...though am I also such an agent? If so, why send me to undo the nefarious work they had wrought here.

Truly, my supply of questions exceeds my stock of answers!

Be that as it may, I continue on my journey perhaps even optimistic about what lies ahead. As Benjamin Franklin was purported to say, "Energy & Persistence conquer all things!"

Well, with nothing but countless miles of Big Sky country ahead, this amateur historian means to find some answers!

Making light of the mysteries our ancestors have left behind is not without myriad dangers, dangers that were certainly on display in the town of Whitehall.

While mystical methods were employed by the mysterious forces behind these ledgers, the threat that was faced was all too mundane: the horrors of the old world & the brazen cruelty of vicious men.

Led to Whitehall, my strange companions & I received a cold reception from people clearly in dire need. While we won over there resistance (most of us anyway), we had been tasked with saving yet another town before dawn - setting to that task, I would find that the spirits had indeed cursed this town: in the form of terrible radioactive isotopes in the hands of the unwary.

Gathering the town & the strangers that I had arrived with, matters were dealt with as best as could be managed - while I did not find it necessary to enter the house myself, it was simple enough to deduce that the delvers had drawn terrible artifacts of the old world & spread such contamination through yonder village.

The Emersons...little Ivy...could not be saved.

It grieves me to know that, but just as Moff & the others, what one Man can do is limited to the reach of his arms. To pretend to have greater resposibility is a game of Kings & Fools.

Even so, when it was clear that trouble was coming, I took up arms & stood against it!

...to my sorrow, I must say. Scarred, mutilated...what am I to do?

They say I saved this town...yet I weep from my remaining eye wishing my mother was here.

The grateful citizens of Whitehall allowed for our valiant band to recover from the tribulations we had faced on their behalf with complimentary room & board. I would like to say this was a time of jubilant celebration, but this was not the case.

The Emersons did not last the night, & per my direction the bodies were interred into the dig, their fine family home boarded up: a warning to all that some treasures are best left undisturbed.

Through the unbearable pain of my injuries, I would come to discover that the others I had arrived with also bore unusual talents not so different from myself. Sal had the means to sate all corporeal needs through the mysterious oil that he produced from his own body (?), Russ was a craftsman of some lost technology, & Jorge the Sailor wielded a mighty harpoon to good effect.

Perhaps I will be so fortunate to find a copy of "Moby Dick" for him to peruse, provided he can read.

With my sewing kit I have fashioned an eye patch to cover my disfigurement. I'd like to say it adds a certain dashing flair to my profile, but the pain throbs readily to remind me that I have been forever scarred. While rescuing this town was a worthy goal (& apparently I have taken another step to greater destiny - where I lack an eye I feel my extra-sensory perception continue to sharpen), I would be remiss, even a liar to say that I go forward with heavy heart: Perhaps, in my naivety & innocence I thought that doing the right thing would see me through these trials unscathed.

That illusion, with many others, lays at rest with the Ivy Emerson & my lost eye.

I had headed West, only to be called East...back to the moss laden Cypress trees of what was once the State of Louisiana.

The sodden, rain swept town of Taylor's Landing was haunted by more than storms - still, I am getting ahead of myself.

Following the directions in this mysterious ledger, I came across two other men shivering in the cold - a wandering priest & some man with a dog. In their trembling hands they held similar leather bound ledgers. So...we pilgrims would save this place from imminent destruction.

Talking to the locals we found tales & legends of a Weeping Ghost. The Diamond Lady of LaBelle, who after her treasures were stolen wept to such an extent that the waters rose, sinking the town.

From the waters rising, it would seem that these events were happening again. Setting off into the Bayou, we went to save yet another town from destruction,

Flood waters...I shudder to remember the cold embrace. We took precautions to ford the river, but it wasn't enough. My panic drove me to shore, the others were not so lucky - Silas, the man with the dog made it to the shore. Abdiel, the Padre...the waters took him.

There was nothing to do but move on. We found our way into LaBelle, came across a foundling of a girl who had gathered the sacrifices made to appease the spirit. Earning the girls trust, it was clear what we must do.

Taking the sacrifices to the grave, I placed them in the Brass Grail I had retrieved from Pinwell - it's storied history of drowning made it the perfect vessel for a spirit's tears - that & a eulogy saw the driving rain reduce to a drizzle, then a mist...soon the waters would recede.

I felt more than heard the gratitude of the Spirit with my psychic talent, & found on the hungry shore the Ledger held by the drowned priest. A parting gift to carry on the story then. Will the Priest haunt these wetlands?

A story for another time.

So it was that my new destiny, having galvanized the latent psychic talents of the famed DuBois bloodline through my interaction with these inexplicable events I had faced thus far, I found myself wandering once more from the borders of the much-dreaded Bayous from whence I hail to the dusty open spaces of the former TANN republic.

A fine thing that, as I have little taste for these large bodies of water!

Abdiel seemed a fine man...his was a fate I was not eager to share.

Deciding to revisit the sites of my earlier adventures with my blossoming extra-sensory perceptions, it seemed an opportunity for a fruitful, even potentially profitable undertaking - perhaps I would see members of this mysterious "book club", as Mr Sal so eloquently put it, on the way.

I may be one eye short of a pair, however my thirst for adventure remains undiminished, even in light of the hardships I & others have suffered - overall, the business of saving towns seems like a right profitable one, for both the pocketbook & the soul.

These troubled times...

This time the cryptic writing in my journal(s) would lead me to the "Mining Town" of Pendelton - immediately notable for high stone walls, abundant food, & luxuries unseen in these modern times.

Gas lit night lamps...will I never experience the famed nightlife my parents knew?

So it was that a motley crew was thus assembled - none familiar to me beyond the Mute medical woman from before...the others? Well, had they been mute as well it would have hardly mattered, yet I digress.

A student of culture & history I had of course heard tale of this wondrous Dr. Snitzel, a Medical Doctor of immense renown. We were tasked with returning some stolen property to him, or barring that, replacing what he had lost with suitable fare. I must say, I entered this with my naivety heavy upon my eyes - yet it was not long before the DuBois intuition shown through.

This was no Mining town - this was an abattoir, where healthy bodies were chopped apart to serve as replacement parts for the wealthy!

Yes indeed, the "property" we were to acquire was nothing less than the surgical livestock that had been brutalized by this madman! After a lengthy chase, we caught up to these victims - I am happy to say the hired thugs of the Doctor were not so fortunate, falling afoul of clever traps set to waylay pursuers.

Gaining a modicum of there trust & having my darkest suspicions proved true, my colleagues & I set out to help these poor souls to make it to greener pastures...yet even so, a Butcher's Bill still need be paid. Sandra Banks grimly acquired the requisite parts from the fallen men, & I sent it back on a horse with the following note:

"I believe this is adequate recompense for your losses sir - the good people you have violated are beyond your reach, & even the villains & thugs you surround yourself with will be ill-prepared to save you once the word gets out. I do hope to be present when you are hanged, & will commend your soul straight to the Devil when that happy day comes to pass.

Yours,
Xander Dubois, Oracle of the Wastes"

A promise I mean to keep, mind - such horrors as these have no place in the new world good men & women seek to create on the bones of the old.

Riding back with the brutalized victims of Pendeleton, I felt great consternation & sorrow as they recounted their tale & I, an individual of no small amount of repute, confirmed that indeed the people of Pendelton were ghoulish monsters.

The Blackout could be considered a reset of sorts - one that freed Humanity from the Specter of Nuclear Oblivion: & yet, the horror has only come home to roost in the hearts of evil men, as it did in the previous Dark Ages.

I will not let Monsters like that hairy creature Sean slew nor let Buthers like the bloody handed surgeon of Pendelton go unchallenged - yet what can I do? Gifted though I am & walking in the footsteps of Destiny - I am but a man, & a young one at that. I am no Caesar, no Ramses II - I have neither the Will or Strength to remake the West in my image...& shudder to think what world might be wrought if I did.

The Power of the DuBois line can be used for weal or woe, Nana always said. My dark thoughts combined with the spiritual awakening granted by following these strange tasks has given rise to even darker powers than those I have opposed might dream of. I fear to use them, but know that I will need to do so if this is the path I shall walk.

For now, it is enough that I tell the tale of the survivors of Pendelton, & urge those enraged to seek Frontier Justice.

It weighs heavily on me that after my last encounter, I have chosen to wear a sawed off shotgun at my side, as my father before me.

These are desperate times.