Go East, Young Man

January 28th, 2005

in 12,475 BCE, a bad dream caused Clau of the tribe of Ar’Ya to turn his face away from the west whenever he traveled. This superstition led his people from the Caucasus to the Asian coast and across the northern wastes into the lands of wheat and cattle, where they led a primitive existence until the arrival of Polynesian sailors around 1500 CE.

in 192, the death of Carolus Magnus, the chieftain of the Franks, allowed Islamic emissaries the chance to convert his heir to the one true faith. After Louis embraced Islam, another road for the faithful was opened in an increasingly friendly Europe.

in 1457, Henry Tudor, pretender to the throne of Richard III, was born in Pembroke, Wales. Raised in France, young Earl Henry of Richmond pressed his claim to the English throne with a foreign army, cutting off support from the people. Richard III, a popular king who had dealt justly with noble and commoner alike, took advantage of his support among the people to crush Henry at the battle of Bosworth Field, ending the famed War of the Roses between the Yorkist and Lancastrian branches of the Plantaganet line.

in 1904, Ambassador Li’Kanto’Mk received a tour of the the capitol city for the Mlosh homeworld. The first thing that he noticed about the city was the utter lack of Mlosh resembling his kind. When he remarked on this to his guides, they replied, “Our Council will speak to you of that. There is no need to ask any more questions.” His unease increased as he discerned the martial quality of life on the homeworld.

in 1952, Mikhail von Heflin locates the Thompson homestead near Bastrop, Texas. Unfortunately, Willard Thompson moved away from the area as a young man, and both of his parents died in the 1940’s. The Baron has to start his search with the only clue he has – Willard entered the military during a war a little over 30 years prior, and he was based in a city called San Diego in California. He turns his car to the west and begins the long journey to the coast.

in 1958, 19-year old salesman Charles Starkweather eloped with his 14-year old sweetheart, Carin Ann Fugate. Although Miss Fugate was too young to legally wed, they lied about her age at a wedding chapel in Las Vegas, and the Starkweathers started their life together in Sin City. Removed from their Nebraska home, the Starkweathers flourished, especially after they hit a slot payoff of $100,000 and used it to start up a dry-cleaning business that has chains across the country today.

in 1986, the shuttle Challenger reaches space, but her heat shield is severely damaged by a small explosion that occurred during liftoff. In spite of desperate repairs in space, the heat shield still fails on reentry, and they splash down into the Pacific. Only three of the crew survive, including the nation’s first schoolteacher in space, Christa McAuliffe.

in 2001, after a shipment of heavy arms reaches them from Russia, soldiers of the People’s Republic of America invade and sack the city of Sheridan, Wyoming Soviet, in the Soviet States of America. Half of Wyoming’s population is sympathetic to the rebel cause, but Sheridan had been a S.S.A. stronghold. After this invasion, most of Wyoming comes under P.R.A. control.


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