Author Note: Hi all!
I've been wanting to do a story like this for a long time. I'll be continuing to write Hunter as I write this, and will probably prioritise that over Wildcards. Consider this a collection of tall tales about Vacuo after the war, and a less than plausible search for powerful weapons known only as "The Cards". I hope you enjoy, and again, I'm truly open to criticism, so leave a review if you want! So without further ado... Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Humans and Faunus! I give you...
Wildcards
Stories of luck and gunpowder in Old Vacuo
The Storyteller's Bar, outside Vacuo
Thanks for th' drink kid… Been a hell of a long time since I got given one… Makes me wonder why you'd do such a charitable thing?
You want a story? Heh heh… I got plenty o' those, but none worth telling. Besides, I gotta be a lot drunker to tell the good ones… Ok, Ok! Stop nagging me and I'll tell ya about Tombstone…
So you know the 4 kingdoms? Atlas, Vale, Mistral and good old Vacuo? Well they weren't always there… Vacuo was once a small minin' town. But that all changed when they struck Dust. It caused a rush of tourists and businessmen to come and claim a bit o' that rainbow gold… This was good fer the upstart kingdom. Tourism caused towns and homesteads to spring up outta the sand… One such town was Tombstone…
The Last Stand at Tombstone
Tombstone wouldn't have been special. It could've been just another town left to the sands when the Dust rush ended, had it not been fer the shootout t' end all shootouts. Tombstone got met by war. War that ended at the O.K. Corral.
It was between 4 lawmen who'd chased the gang known as 'The Cowboys' across the Kingdom and back. These lawmen, the Earp brothers; Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan, with their friend Duane 'Doc' Holliday, had hunted this Cowboys for over a year. This final, legendary gunfight would be told for years to come, and brought more than enough tourism to the town steads and Vacuo itself.
Back in those days, Huntsmen were thin and few between. And in a place like Vacuo, they practically didn't exist. So instead, we got Gunners. These singular soldiers used six-shooters, slug-throwers and rifles to protect their homes, or hunted criminals who escaped the clutches o' the law. They were respected an' feared in equal measure.
The lawmen were not Gunners, but were pissed at the fact Gunners got all the glory. The Cowboys; Ike and Billy Clanton, Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Claiborne, were killers and thieves, an' had dodged jail countless times. The lawmen had enough of th' chase, and went after the bastards in th' name o' justice.
The gunfight was over in seconds. The Lawmen caught the Cowboys unaware and fired round after round into their hideout at the O.K. Corral. Tom Mclaury died first, wit' a round blasting through the poor kid's skull. The others drew their sluggers and fired back, Frank takin' 2 shots shot to the chest, and dropping dead. Realisin' they weren't gonna win, the Cowboys cut tail and ran. As they ran, Billy Clanton was shot three times and died of blood loss.
The Cowboys never resurfaced, and th' Lawmen went down in history as the greatest gunfighters from b'fore the great war. When the Dust rush ended and left Vacuo a desert in return, Tombstone might 'ave been left to the sands. Funny how life works in strange ways, huh?
The monolith appeared outta nowhere. Nobody saw it placed, and nobody saw the O.K. Corral disappear. The black stone pillar that was left in its wake would spark a whole new rush to Vacuo. Not fer Dust, but something far more powerful… The pillar had 4 sides, facing north, south, east and west. On each side was a symbol of th' suits. Nobody's quite sure if th' suits first appeared on card packs first or if that pillar was the inspiration.
To th' north pointed Diamonds: To riches and splendour now lost. East pointed Hearts: In search of peace and prosperity. South pointed Clubs: To th' cold and barbaric ocean. Finally, to th' west pointed Spades: To hard travels and harder lives.
Nobody knew what the hell the pillar meant. Some took it as a sign from the gods, while others believed it were just some silly prank played by the locals. The smart knew it was something far, far worse. Still, nobody knew what it really meant. Not until about 2 weeks later, when the first tale of the 4 Aces was told, and the Dealer first appeared.
The Dealer's a great story, but I need more beers in me before I tell that… But if you're willing to provide, I can tell a few more tales until then…