Tales from the Wasteland | The Desert of Loss

With regards to the past

Please, child, warm yourself by the fire and have some tea. No, no, go on, there's a nasty nip in the air and this will warm your bones. Dearie, judging by the look on your face, you have a world of questions for me. Questions, however, come with a cost, one that doesn't need to be paid... yet. In the meantime, take a seat and I'll answer what I can.

Me, well, I'm Gertrude, mother to the lost children of the Wasteland and songstress to the ballad of the world. Your presence here means only one thing, that the wheels of fate set by Faye and Prema are coming to fruition, but for the future to materialize within the correct plane you must understand the past. That's why you're here is it not? To know the past is to understand the present and to look forward to the future.

How do I know this, you ask? Because I have seen it, child. You don't need eyes to see. Eyes are nothing more than an illusion against the mind. To truly see is to open your mind fully. Dear me, there I go off on things that should not be answered so prematurely. You've come for answers that only I can provide, so I shall give them.

I last met Rod in the Sanitarium. The hunter allowed himself to be caught in hopes of finding his friend, Taloon Balazaar's brother Tulum. However, I think Rod had different motives. The guilt for losing his oldest friend was too much to bear. By locking himself away to rot, Rod thought he could rid the world of his careless actions.

Others in the world knew better and sent a thief named Eric Sandkim to the Sanitarium. Something about the young man sparked a swelling need to finish the contract. To this day, Rod doesn't know what made him leave that cell, but he couldn't turn back now.

Contract completed, Rod returned with Eric to Mercantile where Taloon was waiting with another. This contract would lead Rod into the Dark City, Ogrimdeare, to participate in a tournament. Against his better judgment, he accepted, and with a heavy heart, ventured deep into the Wasteland. The world is a vile place, dearie, and I think you're starting to under this. For hunters, like Rod, keep the balance. Sadly, too few remain. With the tournament many days away, Rod decided to help who he could along the way.

A vibrant teenage girl named Enya was one such person. Rod saved her from a nasty mob of villagers chasing the poor girl through the Petrified Forest. Hearing pleas off in the distance was enough for Rod to spring into action and rescue the girl. The men were easily bested. He wasn't done there, no dearie, Rod escorted Enya back to her home. As the pair walked through the dense forest, Enya divulged to the hunter that the villagers were from Ain, a quiet mountain village that was cursed.

Enya's family paid the hunter in kind with a meal and a warm bed for the evening. The night took a turn for the worse when a night raid took Enya. The family knew right away they were from Ain. Rod and Rin rescued Enya but not before contending with a mimic that was colluding with an incubus. Oh, you haven't heard of mimics? They're abominations that take on the form of any human or animal. The monsters were bested easily, thanks in part to the Dark One; a malevolent entity that dwells in Rod's mind with a power that's able to rid the evil of the Wasteland but at a terrible cost. Rod for many years has fought to rid himself of this energy but the Dark One's grasp over the hunter runs deep.

With Enya and her family safe, Rod continues north. This time, reuniting with his young hunter apprentice, Alena. With her robotic friend, the three stopped, or at least hindered, the plans of Sandman from the Ruined City. Again, the hunter had no choice but to give in to the Dark One when Sandman summoned the elder demon Cerberus from the ethereal plane.

The Ruined City in further ruins and Sandman's plan to grow a demon army in ashes, the hunters returned to Midland to mend their wounds. Their respite, however, is short when Rod gets word that his friend, Gabriel Grimm, is imprisoned in Midland's jail. The news was dire indeed when further investigation revealed Gabriel's brother, Slade, was taken.

Rod, Alena, and Gabriel find Slade's whereabouts, thanks in part to the vampire Flyndrick, where they come face-to-face with the succubus and her arachnid children— men that have fallen to her odious seductions. This is the very same demon that killed Rod's oldest friend. Together, with the help of Commander Kendrick and his Blade Arms, Rod and friends rescued Slade and defeated the arachnid army with the final blow of the succubus, Druscilla, by the hands of the Dark One.

Slade safe and the arachnids defeated, Rod ventures back into the Wasteland.